


til' death do us apart

by Moonlovers_394



Category: Legacies (TV 2018), The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, Blood Drinking, Damon Salvatore being Damon Salvatore, F/M, Family Bonding, Flashbacks, Happy Ending, Human Elena Gilbert, Human/Vampire Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Hybrid Klaus Mikaelson, Klaus Mikaelson Has A Heart, Love Triangles, Protective Damon Salvatore, Protective Elijah Mikaelson, Ripper Stefan Salvatore, Season/Series 03, Sibling Rivalry, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:00:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 53,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22816651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonlovers_394/pseuds/Moonlovers_394
Summary: Upon the revival of Stefan and Damons sister,  Cecelia Salvatore, the dynamics in Mystic Falls are forced to change as the girl that was believed to be dead seems to be involved with more than just one Original.How will her brothers react to her involvement with the most hated family in town?
Relationships: Damon Salvatore & Stefan Salvatore & Original Female Character(s), Elijah Mikaelson/Original Female Character(s), Klaus Mikaelson & Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 34
Kudos: 138





	1. 1863

**Author's Note:**

> I started vampire diaries and this just came to my mind. I'm at season 3 so if my fic doesn't collide with the rest of the show it's bc I literally haven't seen it hahaha

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This entire fanfiction is inspired by Lana del Reys 'Young and Baeutiful'

> Dear diary, 
> 
> Today Stefan came clear to me about many things. He told me he was a vampire, that he had been in love with my ancestor who looked just like me and that the love for that one girl, Katherine, was what tore him and Damon apart and turned them into what they are now. Upon hearing that I wanted to run, I wanted to scream and I wanted to shout...or did I? I felt myself getting sucked into his stories and though I was shocked… I couldn't bring myself to leave. All I could do was to ask more questions. I don't know what that says about me but it certainly states something…
> 
> * * *

> Dear diary, 
> 
> Today Damon hurt Stefan brutally and without mercy. Just as I was beginning to think that Damon could be...more than what I thought he pretended to be...he proved me wrong. Again. 
> 
> I had walked into their home, wanting to tell them that Bonnie had just made a daylight ring for the freshly turned Caroline, when I suddenly heard them shouting. Damon had driven a piece of wood through Stefan's stomach. I had screamed and yelled at him but he had just taken off in his typical Damon fashion.
> 
> I asked Stefan what it was all about and he wanted to tell me the story of why his brother hated him so much. " _Katherine is not the first girl Damon and I loved… not the first one that died because of me…"_
> 
> Turns out Damon and Stefan had a younger sister. Her name was [Cecilia](https://images.app.goo.gl/VRGUo7WpJnrcGkC5A). I could see that it was hard for him to talk about her. When his voice became weak, every word laced with the constant guilt he decided to carry around with him, I told him it was okay to 'skip' over her. I knew he would tell me some other time. I knew that talking about someone you lost hurt. I knew it better than everyone. 
> 
> * * *

> Dear diary, 

> Damon told me the final version of how he and Stefan drifted apart. He was drunk, sad and lonely. I suppose that was the only time when he could bring it over himself to talk about her. To talk about his sister. 

> I already knew the part where Stefan had selfishly turned Damon into a vampire. Knew that Damon blamed him for Katherine's death and that she had chosen Stephan over him. 
> 
> I didn't know that the two of them, or rather Damon, always seemed to have that problem. 

* * *

_**1862** _

_The mood in the Salvatore house was definitely damped. Damon, in typical fashion of the young man, had just announced that he would join the military. In the midst of dinner._

_These news seemed to enlighten no one but their father, who smiled slightly and spoke out a toast in favor of the bravery of the eldest son. Their fathers wine glass hadn't even touched his lips when a loud smash could be heard. Cecilia had smashed her glass to the ground before getting up and running out of the room. Stephan and Damon had both gotten up to run after their little sister but their father wouldn't allow any more chaos to ensure._

_"Let a woman live out her moods. Running after them won't change anything," he had simply said before going back to his meal._

_Damon and Stephan complied, unwillingly, and continued to quietly devour their meals in utter silence for the rest of the evening._

* * *

_"Celia? Celia are you here somewhere?"_

_The 14-year-old sighed. She should've known that due to the darn small size of their town she wouldn't be provided with privacy. Also, if anyone knew her favorite places it'd be one of her brothers. In this case it was Damon._

_"I will never talk to you again so just leave!" she yelled, not even looking back at her brother and stubbornly staring at her feet in the water. The volume of her voice was mostly engulfed by the loud sound of the waterfall yet Damon still heard it and had the audacity to laugh._

_"My sweet sister, are you that upset that your favorite brother is leaving?" Damon joked as he sat next to his sister, feet as naked as hers as he let them into the water._

_Celia denied to look at him and instead turned to watch the infamous waterfall of mystic falls and that was beautifully enlightened by the moonlight._

_"You know that father will be mad if he knows you are out in the woods this late, right? Wait, you know what - scratch that. I'm the upset one. A girl shouldn't be out during this hour," he proclaimed._

_The statement made Celia turn her hands into fists and clench her teeth before she spoke up,_

_"Well, you're leaving us anyway so why even care what I do or not do, huh? It doesn't seem to be of interest to you what happens to me and Stephan anyways!" she spoke, her gaze fierce as she turned to look at her brother._

_Her brother scoffed and smiled at her devilishly before putting his hand on her back. Before she was able to process it he had pushed her into the water, her yelp dying in her throat as she hit the surface._

_It wasn't deep enough to even swim in it, which she was glad for as it was almost impossible to swim in her[blue Victorian dress](https://images.app.goo.gl/fkDvEAKYjxSgw4mP6). She had said many times before that no matter how pretty it made her look, a corset was definitely, along the many others, a way to punish the woman of her age. _

_She stood up, her dress weighing her down and immediately started cursing out her brother in their mother language, Italian._

_For some reason, their mother had only spoken to Cecilia in Italian. There had never been any English in their conversations, unlike the ones between the brothers and their mother._

_Once she was finished her brother began clapping._

_"You are so much like me, Sorellina," he praised, completely ignoring her anger._

_"I'm not anything like you! I'm not a hypocrite like you and I shall never be! After mother died you said-... You-...!" as she spoke tears began piling up in her eyes and finally streaming down her cheeks, causing Damon to lose his cool demeanour and step into the water close to her._

_"You said you'd never leave me," she finally whispered, her voice cracking as she looked up to her older brother._

_He looked pained, a rare expression for Damon as he was usually so carefree. He gently took her face in his hands, giving her an apologetic look._

_"I know I have, little sister. Hey, look at it this way, okay? I'm not breaking my promise because I will come back, you got that? I just…I just need to do this, for myself, okay?"_

_Celia was only 14. She was young, had way too many opinions for a world she had no clue about what it was really about. She was hot tempered and immature. Yet she knew one thing, if she could trust someone it was her family. Family would always be the most important thing._

_So she did what she had to do. She nodded slowly, hesitantly and hoped she wouldn't regret it later on._

_Damon smiled shortly and ruffled her hair,_

_"I know you would understand," she said softly._

_He made a move to pick her up by the waist to get her out of the water but she was too proud for that and just picked up her dress herself and moved out of the water. If it was a struggle she made an effort not to show that._

* * *

_When they arrived home Stephan was already there, waiting by the porch of their home, worriedly looking at them. Damon came up to him, patting his shoulder and joking about him waiting up. Celia watched her two brothers with great sadness while biting her lip._

_Only after a while of them teasing each other they noticed how quiet she had gotten._

_"What is it, picolli?" Damon asked._

_Celia gathered herself, taking a deep breath while remaining eye contact with her two brothers._

_"That's why you shouldn't leave," she began, trying to keep her voice from breaking._

_"Because with you gone, who is gonna be the foolish and reckless one to run after me into the woods? All I'll have left will be our reasonable Stephan," she smiled affectionately at said brother, although her eyes were only filled with sadness._

_"Celia-" both brothers began but their sister cut them off by exhaling the breath she had been holding, a sad smile stretching across her face._

_"I… I know. I understand why, I do. Just…"_

_In that moment she wanted to be selfish. She wanted to tell Damon that he couldn't leave, that she'll miss him too much. She knew he'd stay. She knew that if it was reserved, if she had to leave, her eldest brother would raise heaven and hell._

_The thing is, she wasn't 'just like Damon'. She also wasn't 'just like Stephan' . What she was was their little sister and with that she could chose which traits of both brothers she'd take upon herself. She could choose when they'd be her role models._

_In that moment she locked eyes with Stephan. She could tell it pained him to let his brother go, probably more than he'd ever let on, yet he could never deny any member of his family happiness._

_"I just… have big shoes to fill. With you gone… someone has got to be impulsive sibling," she continued, lied, trying her best to laugh._

_Damon smiled brightly, going over to hug her. During the hug he was back to cracking jokes, something about her now being in charge and whatnot. She couldn't hear it, too focused on the sympathic look her other brother was giving her._

_The next friday she woke up to a letter on her bedside table. On top of the letter there was a[necklace](https://images.app.goo.gl/DNLvdjsppSaTByVi9), the chain made out of the finest silver which carried a blue jewel graced with details that looked like the vines of flowers. _

_The blue was of the exact shade that their father had designed the family blazon and her heart skipped a beat. She quickly opened the letter and began to read it out loud._

_" **Dear sister,**_

_**This necklace shall be the symbol of my promise to you. For as long as you shall carry it, a piece of me will never have left you.** _

_**Love,** _

_**Your favorite brother, Damon**. " _

_That day, Stephan had woken up to a letter himself. It simply said,_

_" **Now it's up to you, brother."**_

* * *

"So…. You and Stephan had a sister, you left for the military and came back and she was.. dead? Because of Stephan?" 

Damon scoffed, clutching the scotch he was holding in his hand a little tighter, 

"Not quite," he spoke bitterly. 

"Then what happened? What did Stephan do that was so horrible?" Elena asked, taking the scotch out of Damon's hand and placing it onto the table by the sofa with a condescending look. 

When she had come over earlier today she had been looking for Stephan because Caroline had almost attacked Matt and needed some serious vampire coaching. Her boyfriend had immediately stepped out of the house to help Caroline, leaving Elena in what she thought had been an empty mansion. Just as she was about to leave a slightly drunk Damon showed up behind her. He had made some inappropriate joke which somehow made the young girl snap. She turned around and began cursing him, still mad at what he had done to Stephan. For simply stabbing his brother. 

He quickly told her off, said if she didn't know the whole story she shouldn't judge. In true Elena Gilbert fashion, no matter how angry she was, she knew that he was right and that she had an undying thirst for knowledge about anything supernatural. 

"My dear brother did nothing and that's exactly what killed her. He simply stood by while our father signed her death sentence," Damon said bitterly, staring off into the distance. 

**1863**

_Stephan sighed and cursed God above him for the stress he was putting him through._

_He was currently in the middle of the towns square, desperately looking for his sister. Ever since their eldest brother had left, Celia had sort of been acting up. From disappearing during festivities with her friends to coming home late with questionable bruises covering her, Stephan had seen it all. He had also been the one to cover her strange behavior up._

_Today his father was about to welcome a very special guest to their home. Michollini Marino, one of Italy's most successful business man._

_In orderly fashion every member of the household, including service personal, would line up in front of the mansion to greet the guest of honor._

_Well, guess who was missing and who would be arriving in an hour? Right, his dear sister and their special guest._

_"Maria! Maria!" Stephan called out upon seeing one of Celia's close friends, Maria Gilbert._

_The girl clearly had a thing for Stephan, as most girl seemed to have ever since the town's chameur Damon had left. She immediately blushed and quickly gathered up her dress to meet him._

_"Yes, Stephan? How can I help you?" she spoke in a fine manner while doing a curtsey._

_Stephan smiled at her, hoping this small sign of affection would get him a quicker answer._

_"I'm afraid my sister has run off again to God's knows where. Usually, I'd let it slip but if she misses this time I fear my father won't fail to notice like how he usually does," he put his emphasis on the last part, hoping her friend won't cover for her._

_Maria was clearly conflicted, biting her lip. Stephan sighed and cursed himself for what unnoble thing he was about to do next. He took the girls hand into his own, his eyes never leaving hers._

_Her response was immediate, she gasped and quickly looked around them._

_"Sir Salvatore, we are in the middle of the towns squa-" she began, but Stephan squeezed her hand gently and put on his best genuine face._

_"Please, Maria, I trust you. My sister has been worrying me for quite some time now and you know how our father can get… I actually fear for her safety if she becomes any more reckless. Please, help me, will you?"_

_Maria took a deep breath in, her hand trembling in Stephan's before she painfully nodded._

* * *

_Truthfully, Celia could be a tad dramatic sometimes but her claim that "even death would be better than this embarrassment" is expected to be taken completely seriously._

_Ever since Damon left she had felt like there had been a hole inside her chest. She had realised nor Stephan or her father could fill that emptiness because they had never been what Damon had been to her._

_Damon had been a parent, her only parent, as odd as it might sound._

_Their father had always been too busy, their mother was taken away from them too young. Damon was the one that taught his two siblings about life. About everything._

_He taught Stephan how to tie a tie, how to talk to a lady and how to drink properly._

_He taught Celia to be aware of man, to make her voice heard but still know her place._

_He taught both of them that family was the most important thing, especially if you had a Tyrann like their father run it._

_Her other brother had of course taken more responsibility ever since Damon left but it wasn't the same. He was a child himself, a child trying to be an adult. She appreciated him looking out for her yet he somehow never had enough authority to decide over her. He was the one she'd cry her eyes out if things went wrong but never the one to make them right._

_She wondered who she would cry her eyes out about this particular situation. She was currently situated between a very sturdy wooden wall and a certain Isaac Lockwood, the youngest son of the family. Her dress was mostly on the ground and only her corset and the rest of her[undergarments](https://pin.it/G0MA2wx) were covering her. Her dear brother was standing by the doorframe, eyes wide as he looked right into her shocked face. _

_"CELIA?" he cried out in shock, causing Isaac to stiffen even more and Celia to close her eyes in embarrassment._

_"Yes… brother?" she spoke carefully, not daring to look at him but at her lover who seemed just as startled as she was._

_Stephan opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally composing himself._

_"Isaac I know this is your home but I would like you to excuse us. Now." he spoke, glaring holes into the young man's naked back._

_The Lockwood heir didn't need to be told twice and quickly scrambled away, causing Celia to almost fall down as he had been holding her up by the thighs and simply let go. She quickly caught herself though and was now leaning against the wall staring right into her brothers face whilst her lover made his way past them._

_"I'll… I'll tell the maids to show you out… See you…" Isaac quickly stated before finally exiting the room._

_The was an unbearable silence between the two of them lasting for over a minute before one of them finally spoke up._

_"Gather your clothes and come. Father wants us to greet his guest," he spoke curtly, eyes looking at anything but her._

_"Fratello-" Celia began, heart heavy upon seeing the disappointment._

_"No," Stephan said, cutting her off._

_"Stephan, please! It's just that I-"_

_"Whatever it is, I don't want to hear it. Let the maids get you dressed and re-do your hair, you look like a mess,"_

_With that he left the room. Celia sunk to the floor and sighed._

_"I am a mess.." she whispered._

* * *

"What happened then? Your father found out and what? Just killed her? I can hardly imagine that," Elena said, confusion clearly written all over her face. 

"How about we get Stephan's diary and find out, huh?" Damon suddenly proclaimed, alarming Elena. 

"What? Damon no, we can't just read his diary and invade his priva-" 

"Yeah, well, whatever," the vampire simply stated before running off. 

Elena sighed heavily and quickly took out her phone. 

"Hey, what's up?" said Stephan's voice from the other line. 

"Hey, it's me. I just wanted to tell you something.." she bit her lip suddenly afraid of how he'd react. 

"Okay but make it quick please Caroline is….a piece of work, let's just say it like that," Stephan spoke. 

In the background Elena could hear Caroline speaking, probably cursing the vampire for insulting her. 

"Well…When you left I ran into Damon… He...he's telling me about your sister…About what happened to her.." she explained, her voice dripping with worry.

For a few seconds Stephan said nothing. Elena took a deep breath, opening her mouth to say something along the lines of 'I can make him stop if you want to' but Stephan cut her off. 

"I- It's okay but please be open to hear my version too once I get home," 

Before Elena could answer her phone was snapped out of her hand by Damon who placed it over his ear and spoke, 

"No problem, brother. She's getting it. 1863 was the year, right? Just before Katherine got to us. Good thing you keep everything documented," the dark haired male said, flipping the book he was holding. 

"Damon, don't-" 

"Ahhh too bad brother, bad connection!" he said while making by obscene noises. 

He hung up and gave the phone back to Elena who was glaring daggers at him. 

"Not funny, Damon!" she said, but the elder just shrugged before opening up the book and flipping through some pages. 

"Ah here it is….

March 3rd, 1863

> Dear Diary, 
> 
> I haven't spoken to my sister ever since I've caught her with Isaac Lockwood three days ago. She is free to fall in love, to live her life and have fun but that is not what she is doing. She is distracting herself, destroying herself. I do not know why our brother leaving has left such a scar on her as she used to be the most independent person I knew. 

> Watching my sister behave sits with me deeply. When I look at her I feel like a failure. I feel like I am failing this family. Damon has left us, our father rarely spends his time with anyone but business men, the city council or drunken maids. When we were brought up we were taught family was the most important thing yet everyone is straying apart. 

> My sister is out getting drunk and coming home with love bites. She is skipping her ballet and poetry classes. Things she used to love. 

> It is my duty to bring her back on track yet I feel… I feel betrayed. She used to tell me everything and now she has shut me out. I'm I not good enough of a brother? Is it my fault? These questions haunt me and I'm afraid to get an answer."

Elena sucked in a harsh breath at Stephan's words, her sympathy growing for him. Damon just scoffed. 

"That's my brother. Something he has no control over happens and he immediately hates himself," Damon said, sounding just a tad sad. Elena quickly looked at him, not believing what she just heard. Did Damon feel for Stephan? 

She learned not to pry when Damon would show bits of his humanity or he'd do anything to prove it wrong, to show he was the monster he wanted to be. 

So instead she asked, 

"Did he find out why she was acting like that?" 

Damon coughed, gathering himself before locking eyes with Elena. 

"That's the thing, Elena. There was nothing to find out. She was a child. She felt…left behind. Betrayed. Unwanted. She acted up a bit, dated around and spent more time with her friends, so what? She did it in secret. She let off some steam, enjoyed her youth!"

"But Stephan makes it sound like-" 

"That's Stephans problem, Elena. He's always trying to save everyone and everything. Even those that don't want to be saved. That don't need to be saved. That's why he turned me and that's how he killed our sister," 

Damon sounded numb, the alcohol probably helping him forget his sorrows but Elena knew. She knew he was hurting,so she took the diary out of his hands and began reading herself. 

"March 5rd

> Dear Diary, 
> 
> My sister came to my room today to talk to me. She apologized for the worries she gave me. It made me think she was back to being her old self again but she proved me wrong when she later on exclaimed that she needed to leave to see one of her many suitors. I told her it wasn't like her. I told her this would need to stop or father would punish her. 
> 
> She simply said that for as long as he doesn't know she'll be fine. 
> 
> How could I let this go on? I needed to do something. Needed her to see that drowning herself in whatever she was doing wasn't the right way. 
> 
> I decided to go to Miss Gilbert. 
> 
> All the girls needed to attend classes as to train for their future life. Miss Gilbert is in charge of cultural studies such as poetry, art and music. I knew for a fact that Celia wasn't attending her classes anymore, having made up a lie that our father wanted her to focus on something else at the moment. 
> 
> If I could make Miss Gilbert go to our father then maybe he'd give her house arrest and she'd finally confront her emotions."

"It's always weird to me knowing that you hung out with my literal ancestors," Elena said, trying to get the focus off of the heavy atmosphere. 

"Well, your ancestor wasn't really nice about it when she found out that my sister was skipping class. After Stephan asked her to visit father she did and boy did she make a show out of it. It's all in the diary" Damon, who had somehow acquired himself another drink, explained. He went to the window and stared out of, deep in thought.

"How so?" Elena asked. 

"Well, before going to my father she went to her daughter, Marie or something, who was Cece's best friend," 

Elena's heart warmed up upon hearing the nickname Damon had so loosely let slip. In moments like these she thought he could be her friend. 

"Maria, who wasn't much of a Saint either, spilled the beans. My sister and her friend had thrown drunken parties by the waterfalls, had slept around, engaged in gambling. All that jazz that only men at that time could get away with. Miss Gilbert covered up for her daughter but didn't have the same curtsey for my sister. She went to my father's and told him all about it. If there was one thing my father had, it was pride,"

It doomed to Elena what was about to come next. 

_"_ And your sister acting up-" 

"-especially with other members of the founder's families-" 

"-must have hurt his pride immensely," Elena finished, eyes focused on Damon, who just nodded. 

"W-what did he do?" she asked. As a girl born in the 21st century she was privileged, something she rarely acknowledged. In history she'd hear about the misogyny of old times but she never really thought about what it was liked. She had a feeling that she was about to find out. 

"That March I came home for the first time since I joined the army… barely days after that Gilbert bitch had ratted out my sister…" he began, 

**_1863_ **

_"Hello? Hello? Anyone home?" Damon asked. He put his bag down in the foyer of his old home. Seriously, you write a letter announcing you'll be there and then no one welcomes you? That's kind of harsh._

_Just as he was about to step into his father's office, a maid came jumping out of nowhere, tears streaming down her face._

_"Oh, Master Salvatore! Master Salvatore something horrible has happened!" she screamed._

_Out of the many maids that worked for them, this one had been there the longest, had basically raised Damon._

_"What is it, Marla?" he asked her, holding the woman by her arms as to calm her._

_"That man..! That man from Italy! He is taking her, Sir! He is taking little Miss Cecelia with him to marry her off to his son, Sir!" she shouted hectically._

_Damon had many questions. What man? Why his sister? What was going on? Where was everyone? Why would his father allow such thing?_

_Fortunately, he's always been a man of action which meant he only asked the most important question._

_"Where? Where are they? "_

_"B-by the W-Wickery B-Bridge… Sir…"_

_Damon swore he never ran that fast in his entire life. When he reached the bridge he saw his father and brother stand in front of it, they're backs facing him, whilst his little sister was getting inside a carriage, a strange man Damon had never seen before helping her with her[dress](https://pin.it/7%2FKEDHc)._

_"No… No...CELIA!" he shouted, gaining the attention of his father and brother. It was too late,though. His sister had already gotten inside._

_His feet acted first, running towards the vehicle that was slowly starting to move on._

_"DAMON?" his sister shouted, her hands grasping onto the bars that were there instead of glass by the only window of the carriage._

_Damon ran as fast as he could, the horses of the carriage moving forward without any mercy. His father and brother tried to stop him once he was at their level, holding him back with all their force._

_"IT'S TOO LATE, BOY!" his father screamed, but Damon wouldn't hear him. His entire focus was on the face of his sister behind those bars, silent tears streaming down her face._

_He used all his strength and shook his father and brother off of him. He ran after the carriage, ran as fast as he could but his legs were slowly starting to give in._

_His sister then threw something out of the window. It landed right before Damon's feet and he went to his knees, the exhaustion weighing him down._

_A minute later the carriage was out of sight and Damon just sat there, chest heaving and hair damp from his sweat. Tears were rolling over his cheeks._

_"Brother!" he heard Stephan shout. Soon enough the younger boy was next to him, clutching onto Damon's shoulder with his hand to keep him steady._

_"What happened here?" Damon asked, anger, confusion and sadness all overwhelming him._

_"I-..." Stephan began, but was interrupted by their father._

_"Get up, my sons," he said, voice stern as ever._

_Stephan grabbed the note that Celia had thrown out of her carriage and complied. Damon was still on the ground, shaking._

_"Marla said she's being married off," he said, staring at the place where his sister had just been mere minutes ago._

_"Your sister is being punished as well as rewarded, my son. Now come home, we'll talk about everything there."_

* * *

"So you couldn't even say goodbye to her?" Elena spoke, sadness in her eyes as she looked at Damon's back. The man just shook his head before emptying his glass. 

"She had kept in touch with us, wrote letters. She made everything sound okay but she'd always deflect certain topics. Never talked about her husband or how he was treating her. It was always 'How is everything back home?', 'Has father forgiven me?', 'Look out for one another'. It made us worried and rightfully so. After I turned and had left Stephan I traveled to Italy… or rather I intended to. The vampire thing was new to me. I got distracted by all sorts of things, all sorts of woman during my journey. Only after two years I finally managed to get to her… get to her grave. I asked around town and they told me that she killed herself."

Elena sucked in a harsh breath. It must've been hard for Damon to lose the love of his life, father, brother and sister all in such a short amount of time. Though her brain was telling her no, he's a brutal murderer her heart was breaking for him and she found it harder to blame him for anything. Turning off your humanity seemed like something everyone would do.

Before she could even process it she stood up and went to Damon. He seemed surprised, watching her with glassy eyes. Without exchanging any words she hugged him, hugged him like she did when they learned about Katherine's betrayal. 

He let out a shaky breath, something he'd only do around Elena, but didn't return the hug. He simply stood there, clutching onto his glass like it was his lifeline. 

Elena quickly ended the hug because even with everything she just learned and with everything she just felt… There was a time and place. Hugging her brother's boyfriend, who clearly had a thing for her, for too long was never appropriate. 

"Did you ever find out why she committed suicide?" she asked as softly as she could to distract herself from her conflicting feelings. 

"I rummaged around town looking for answers. Basically compelled and interviewed everyone I met. Her husband, the eldest son of the family, was an absolute dick according to the people. One girl told me showed me a picture of her and she was all covered up. It wasn't like her. She liked necklaces and never wore anything that would go above her collarbones because of it. Even in winter she'd never… she never.. " 

Damon coughed to cover up his upcoming emotions. He turned around to look out of the window and away from Elena before continuing his story. 

"The people weren't fond of the entire family but especially him. Everyone only guessed what he did to her but no one was surprised when the news flashed that she had killed herself and the rest of them." 

"Them?"

"Her in-laws and her husband. After awhile I found and old maid. My sister apparently set fire to the mansion with everyone locked inside. She confirmed the abuse that Celia had been going through, confirmed that after she heard that Stephan and I had died she went insane."

There was a pause. The story was finished. At least it was from Damon's point of view. 

"And that's why you blame Stephan," Elena stated, the pieces finally coming together. 

"He intervened because he was afraid she was gonna lose herself… which only exposed her. Your father sent her away, not caring about what kind of family she was marrying into, too blinded by his pride. She was abused by her new family and finally lost her will to live once she heard that you two died and took revenge on the family by ending their lives with hers" she summarized. Damon nodded, chest heaving. 

Elena knew better than to correct Damon. Knew better than to tell him that all Stephan did was to look out for their sister in his own way. If there was one thing she learned from the whole Katherine situation it was that if Damon didn't have anyone to blame he'd go crazy. 

Still. She had to ask. 

"But I remember Stephan telling me that you and him were on good terms when Katherine arrived. Why are you blaming him now and not back then?" 

"Because I didn't tell him back then," Stephan's voice suddenly stated, causing Elena to turn towards her boyfriend who was standing by the entrance of his home. 

"Blamed it aaaaall on daddy," Damon said, bitterness as well as drunkeness not hidden in his words. 

Stephan clenched his jaw, Damon clearly hitting a nerve. Elena quickly ran to her boyfriend to engulf him in a hug. 

"How did it go with Caroline?" she asked him before nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck. She seriously needed that after all this information she had gotten today. 

"She's shaken up because of Matt but she'll learn how to compose herself. She definitely has a lot of discipline if needed." Stephan stated, his hand finding itself in Elena's hair. 

Elena let go of him and smiled sadly. 

"I think I'm going to visit her to see if she's alright." 

Stephan simply nodded, returning her smile, exhaustion visible on his face. 

Before leaving Elena threw a quick glance at Damon, who was still standing in front of the window, his back facing them. She looked from him to Stephan and gave him a meaningful look. Her boyfriend nodded before sighing. She quickly pecked his lips and finally left. 

"How are you doing? With all that going into the past stuff?" Stephan asked while stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jeans before making his body face his brother.. 

He knew he wouldn't get a proper answer but he still felt obliged to talk about the elephant in the room. 

"Looking back on it… all that jazz with Celia was probably how Katherine could've happened to us, huh, brother?" Damon stated, surprising Stephan with the lack of an sarcastic remark.

"I thought about that too. We quite literally had room to fill..in our home and in our hearts as well.." the younger spoke, becoming sentimental as he stared into the distance alongside his sibling. 

"Ugh," Damon exclaimed, back to his snarky demeanour while pulling a disgusted face. 

Stephan ignored it and stepped closer to his brother, standing next to him with a drink that he had quickly fixed himself using his supernatural speed. 

He let silence flood the conversation, the only sound in the room was the crackling of the firewood. Stephan made a habit to put it on so that Elena wouldn't feel cold in the big mansion when she was over. 

After a while he decided it was time to let the cat out of the back. 

"It was easier to blame father for it. Easier not to tell you that I was the one who set it all in motion," he began. 

Upon his words Damon clenched his fists and took in a deep breath but didn't say anything. 

"I knew that if I'd come clean I'd lose you...I didn't want to be without my sister and my brother.I was too selfish for that. Too lonely." 

Finally Damon looked at his brother, confusion in his eyes. The kind of confusion he felt whenever a human emotion would make its way back to him again.

In front of him he saw his little brother. 

Not the ripper, not the one that got the girl. His little Stephan from a time he usually suppressed. 

Damon didn't like it. He didn't like feeling vulnerable. Didn't like the thought that Stephan could get a way back into his stone turned heart. 

"Well, what an irony then that you managed to lose me next chance you got, huh?" he exclaimed, knowing it would hurt his brother. 

Deep down, it hurt him too.

* * *

Later on Damon found himself in front of his closet, looking down at a frame that he usually kept hidden in there. 

The frame contained a note. The note that his sister had thrown out of the carriage before forever leaving them. 

" **My dear brother's,**

**I shall live to the day until I see you again.**

**Promise,**

**Your favorite sister**." 

Damon sighed deeply, his fingers gliding over the glass of the frame. Over his sister's last words. 

"This family is just full of liars, isn't it?" 


	2. Dynamics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I kinda wanted to lay out some basic stuff in this chapter aka the relationships between the characters

It's been a tough year. Klaus has come to mystic falls, has come for the doppelganger. He successfully completed the ritual. He successfully killed Michael and whatever was left of Stephan's humanity. 

Damon had decided that he would try to bring his brother back, earning the favor of Elena. Her and the two Salvatores spend most of their time coming up with ways to kill Klaus. It wasn't easy, though. Stephan was reckless, impulsive and unpredictable. Elena and Damon couldn't trust him which he just confirmed when he admitted to having stolen the coffins that carried Klaus family. 

Klaus, as always, had the upper hand and won them back. Well, won all of them back despite his mother's coffin. The one that could kill them all. 

And whilst Klaus was at home, dealing with his undaggered and pissed off siblings (curtsey of Damon who undaggered Elijah before giving them back to Klaus) the Salvatores had time to come up with a new plan. A backup plan they desperately needed since Bonnie didn't seem to be able to open the mysterious coffin.

It's been a week since the Originals returned and it seemed like they were starting to forgive Klaus which was something Damon hated to see. 

"Seriously how can they just forgive him? He had them in damn boxes!" the dark haired vampire spoke in fury whilst walking up to his house alongside his brother. 

"Their grudge against Klaus was something we counted on. I'm as pissed as you are." the younger brother simply stated. 

No humanity Stephan didn't exactly have a way with words and it made Damon sigh. It was hard being the only fun person around sometimes. 

"He must've pulled much bigger stuff on them if they were able to forgive him so easily," the elder spoke. 

"Not quite,"

Both brothers stopped in their tracks when they saw who had spoken. It was Elijah who currently leaning against their front door, dressed in a suit like always. 

Damon and Stephan immediately went into a sort of fighting stance, flexing their muscles which made Elijah smirk slightly. Like they had a chance against him. 

"My siblings and I were very upset at Nicklaus and of course made that known. Used the daggers to stab him over and over again to make him know what it felt like," he said smiling while he started moving towards the brothers. 

"Why'd you stop?" Damon, snarky as ever, replied. 

"While he was bleeding out my brother promised us that with Michael gone he had no reason to ever do that to us again-" 

"And you believed him?" Stephan interrupted him, making the Originals eyebrow twitch. No one around here seemed to have proper manners. 

"Of course we didn't  _ yet _ upon hearing of our fathers death we.. acknowledged his reasoning, you might say." Elijah concluded, now finally in front of the two brothers with a confident stance. Something unshakeable about the man seemed to be his confidence which his entire appareance radiated. 

"So you forgave him," Damon concluded, twisting Elijah's words.

The Original lifted his arms in the air as to say 'believe in what you want'. 

"I don't see you abandoning your brother after Klaus made him turn off his humanity,"

Damon clenched his jaw. This motherfucker had a point. 

"Klaus is my family. He will always be and it was foolish to think of me that I could actually able to kill him...that any of my family could. Previous as well as recent events have showed that. This is why I'm here," 

Stephan was the first one to figure it out so he voiced his thoughts, 

"You're here to tell us that none of you will help us with killing Klaus," he stated. 

Elijah confirmed his statement by nodding. 

"Although I am very grateful for you undaggering me," 

His gaze went to Damon who was glaring daggers at him. Something the hot-blooded vampire was very well trained in as his striking blue eyes always added to the wished effect. 

"I will not join your foolish quest. As a sign of my gratitude I will tell you something so listen carefully," 

Stephan scoffed, his hands coming out of his pockets so he could cross his arms in front of his chest.

"Let me guess,  _ 'Don't kill Klaus' _ ," he said, voice dripping with sarcasm. 

Elijah resisted the urge to roll his eyes. With Stephan's humanity gone he felt like he was talking to two Damon's. 

" _ Don't waste your time _ killing Klaus, to be precise," he said, smirking. 

He could hear the heartbeat of Damon going faster. The blood must quite literally be boiling inside of him right now. It always did whenever Elijah had the upper hand in one of their many arguments.

"Nature has been trying to kill Klaus for over a thousand years now. It made him nothing but stronger. He will always be ahead, will always look out for himself. Katerina is quite like him and didn't you two fail to kill her too?" 

The blow definitely sat with them. Damon showed his teeth while Stephan was taking a deep, passive aggressive breath. 

"No matter what is in that coffin it can't kill Klaus. If it was that strong to begin with it wouldn't have let itself get put into a box," the Original continued. 

Damon and Stephan both seemed to freeze upon hearing that. Elijah had a point. A damn good point. 

Suddenly, before Damon could even blink, Stephan had run forward and literally grabbed Elijah by the throat, running the eldest vampire into the facade of the Salvatore house. 

Damon quickly hurried forward. 

"Stephan stop he's way stronge-" 

It was too late. A loud crack could be heard and sure enough Stephan was on the ground, clutching his broken arm. 

Damon saw red and ran forward, a mistake as Elijah grabbed him mid run. Grabbed his heart. 

While the life of the dark haired vampire was literally in the hands of the Original, Stephan got up to his knees. 

"This is my last warning. Come for my family, which includes Nicklaus, and your death will be guaranteed. Before I kill you'll two I might even visit the lovely Elena first," Elijah spoke, smile vanished and replaced with a terrifying seriousness. 

Klaus was seen as the scary one because he was unpredictable and crazy but any soul that had had contact with the Originals could tell you that a pissed off Elijah had you doomed. Damon remembered Rose saying something like that and mentally cursed himself as blood began piling up in his mouth and dripping over Elijah's arm.

"Y-you… wouldn't… sh-she.. didn-.." Damon began to stutter, the blood finally escaping his mouth and decorating his chin and neck. 

"Although she posses far more virtue than you two,she still always plays a part when it comes to plans that include killing my brother. Not to mention the fact that she also stabbed Rebekah in the back. The only thing holding my dear sister back from ending Elena's life is that Klaus needs her but _ I swear to you _ if you two and your friends keep trying to come for my family I will drop her of every single blood before ripping her head off  _ myself _ , " the Original gritted between his teeth. 

His words, his threat, upset Stephan but as he made a move to get up Elijah clutched Damon's heart even tighter, causing the male to groan in pain. 

Stephan immediately stopped and hopelessly looked at Elijah. 

" _ Are we clear _ ?" the eldest vampire said, eyes never leaving Stephan's while digging his arm even further into Damon's stomach. 

Stephan began breathing heavily, the conflict inside of him burning him up. 

If he gave up hating Klaus he'd have nothing. All the guilt would wash him up. All of his survival instincts told him to get up and fight Elijah yet he just couldn't. Damon's pain, no matter what his big brother had done to him, was always something that would hurt him more than anything. He couldn't let Damon die. He'd never be able to. 

So he nodded, painfully. 

Elijah smiled devilishly and released Damon, who fell to the ground, barely conscious. While he pulled out a tissue to clean himself from the other vampires blood, Stephan got his bones back into their place and quickly run over to his brother. 

"Always remember that it's not just your life hanging on the line if you come for any of us, Stephan." 

With that he left, leaving the helpless brothers to take care of one another. 

Elijah had won this round. Elijah would always win when it came to family. He could never lose them. He'd never let that happen.

Never again. 

* * *

"I _hate_ that bitch. That entire family is a bitch. I don't even know who is the biggest bitch, Klaus or Elijah. Honestly-" 

"Shut up for a second, will you?" Stephan spoke, interrupting Damon's rather dramatic monologue. 

The two of them were currently inside their mansion and leaning against the front door, blood bags scattered around them. Elijah's visit had taken a toll on them and though Stephan preferred humans nowadays, they desperately needed the blood to heal their wounds. Kind of funny how ironic that sentence was. 

"Damn, brother. No humanity has made you more boring  _ and  _ ruder. I-" 

"Maybe if you'd take your head out of your ass you'd finally notice that gigantic box in the middle of our living room,  _ brother!"  _

Upon his brother's statement Damon turned to look at their living room where indeed a gigantic wooden box stood upright. 

"Stephan if you ordered yourself a torture chamber to fully live out your masochistic tendencies now is probably a good time to fess up," Damon said, eyes focused on the mysterious box. 

His brother rolled his eyes before getting up and moving closer to inspect the object. 

"It must be from Elijah." he concluded as his eyes roamed over the wooden box, searching for a note or any other clue that would lead them to what the inside might be. 

"Maybe it's Klaus who is gonna jump out of it to rip out our throats," Damon proclaimed while also getting up. Afterwards he pulled a weird face and lifted his hands up to symbolise claws. Stephan didn't even react at all which made the elder pout slightly. 

"I doubt it's anything that's alive otherwise it would already have attacked us," Stephan concluded. 

"Yeah, well, whatever. Both of us are in  _ serious _ need of a shower before we can even think about going back to any more Original business," Damon said, walking away from Stephan while lifting his shirt over his head. 

"We are in the middle of war with the most powerful and satanic creatures on this planet and someone broke in here, left this without leaving any clue and you just wanna ignore it and take a shower?" Stephan called after him. 

"Unlike you brother my whole life purpose isn't killing Klaus" Damon just said. He was already in his room and began to take the rest of his clothes off when it doomed him. Elena. He should probably call to see if dear Elijah had also paid her a visit. 

"Then what is your life purpose?" he heard Stephan ask. He could hear his brother sit down by the sofa, probably waiting for him to get back before he opened their mysterious box. Good, so Stephan hadn't lost his sense completely. 

"To look fabulous, brother." Damon answered before putting on his shower. He didn't get inside it yet and instead dialed Elena, the running water ensuring that Stephan wouldn't hear their conversation. Even with most of his vanished feelings Damon knew that it bothered his brother that he and Elena had gotten closer. That he was now the one she confined it although they hadn't started anything as she was still hung up on Stephan and unsure about her feelings about him. 

" **Hello?"** her voice came through after a few seconds of waiting. 

**"** Guess who just stopped by to tell us his family is the reconciled Brady bunch now?" he said, smiling at his own joke. 

" **What?"** Elena asked, rightfully so. 

Damon sighed. Why was it so hard to get a laugh around here? 

"Elijah just came by to tell me and Stephan that he and the rest of his siblings have forgiven Klaus. We try to kill them, Rebekah rips your head off and Elijah kills us," 

From the other line he could hear Elena gasp. He heard a bit of shuffling and then a door shutting. 

" **They forgave him? I mean how could they, he-"**

"Apparently the fact that Michael is dead brought them back together or something. Listen, all I know he came here to 'warn' us." he said bitterly while looking down at his bloody and torn shirt. 

**"Are you hurt?"** Elena asked, making Damon's heart skip a beat. She didn't ask about Stephan. She didn't ask what the warning entailed. She just wanted to know how  _ he  _ felt. 

"Been better to be honest. With all that Klaus crap going on I forgot how strong that motherfucker was," he said. 

Was he trying to get sympathy pity points? Maybe. 

**"What did he-"**

"Nothing too bad. We'll be fine," he gently spoke. 

He heard Elena sigh from the other line. 

**"First Jeremy is out there flirting with his dead ex-girlfriends and now this,"** she said, sounding nothing but exhausted. 

"He  _ what _ ?" Damon asked. 

**"Should I come over and tell you? I would definitely like to get out of the house, believe me,"** she said, laughing bitterly. 

"A late night visit by a lady? Uhhh, how dirty of you Elena," he joked. 

On other line he heard Elena groan. 

**"Damon-"**

"What would Alaric say if he knew of your frivolous behavior?" the vampire continued to joke, his typical sly smile stretching across his face. 

" **Come on Damon. I'm serious, I-"**

"You can't come, sorry," he interrupted her on a serious note.

"Elijah left something here. A big mysterious box in the middle of our living room, to be exact. I'm gonna take a shower and then we'll open that baby. You can't be here in case something man-eating is in there,sorry. Too dangerous," he explained while shrugging.

" **If it's dangerous** **maybe you should have Bonnie take a look at it before you open it!"**

Damon clicked his tongue. She did have a point. 

"You think she'd be willing to do a caging spell? So whatever is in that box can't leave it?" he asked. 

" **She'll be hesitant to help you two but I think I can convince her."**

Damon could practically hear her smile and he would lie if he said that it didn't make him happy too. Still, there were things that had to be done. 

"Good, tell her to come here. You stay home. No humans allowed in here tonight," he stated.

**"Bu-"**

He hung up before she could finish and threw his phone onto his bed. 

"This is gonna be a long night, huh?" he asked himself before finally stepping under the comforting shower water, his muscles immediately relaxing. 

* * *

After 5 minutes of complementing wether he should put on a shirt or not (cause there was a chance he was dying tonight and why shouldn't he do so in all his glory?) Damon finally got dressed, which, yes, included a shirt, and stepped out of his room. He used his speed to quickly get to the living room. 

Stephan sat there, a drink that was probably 99% some housewife and 1% alcohol in his hand while he fixated the box. 

"Took you long enough," he spoke, eyes going from the box to his brother before he took a sip from his drink. Damon fixed himself one, ignoring his brother's demeanor. 

"Patience, brother. Bonnie will come over and bind whatever is in there so that we can minimize the danger by a tenfold," he spoke, proudly, before seating himself on a opposing sofa so that he was facing his brother. 

Stephan groaned, clearly having no patience left, before he began twitching with his fingers. 

"You in a hurry?" Damon asked, eyes glancing at his brother's twitching hands. 

"If whoever is in there is going to kill us then yes, I am. I'd rather get it over with  _ quickly _ ," he said, a fake smile covering his face. 

" _ Whoever?"  _ Damon asked, 

"I thought we said if it was a person they would've already jumped at us?" 

Stephan smiled triumphly, making Damon groan. The ripper self of Stephan had always been a dick that liked to have the upper hand. 

"Listen, brother." the younger simply said, the hand that held his drink pointing towards the mysterious box, the ice-cubes clashing against the glass being the last sound that was heard before Damon focused his ears entirely with knitted eyebrows. 

A minute passed. 

Three minutes. 

Five minutes. 

Just as Damon was about to open his mouth to curse his brother for pranking him he heard it. 

A beat. 

_ A heartbeat.  _

Damon immediately jumped to his feet, his glass long forgotten. 

"What the hell?" he asked, eyes focusing on the box in hopes he could see through it. 

"Must be a vampire and according to that heartbeat they've been in there for a hell of a long time" Stephan concluded. 

"Then it's even better I brought backup," a voice suddenly said. 

Damon quickly turned around, startled that someone had been able to enter without him noticing. 

He let out a sigh of relief when he saw that it was just Bonnie and Elena. 

"Thought I'd told you to stay home?" he asked Elena, glaring at her. 

"Bonnie needed a ride," she lied, shrugging.

The witch rolled her eyes and glared down at Stephan and Damon. 

"I also needed  _ insurance,"  _ she spoke harshly. 

"At least with Elena here I know that you two won't pull any funny business. Especially you," she pointed towards Stephan with her chin. 

"With all that bullshit you've been pulling." she finally stated. 

Elena clearly didn't like what Bonnie said but kept it to herself, only throwing a worried look between Stephan and her. 

"Shall we get started then?" the young witch simply said, making it obvious she wanted it to be over as quickly as possible. 

"First we gotta move it," Stephan said while getting up. 

"And why's that, brother?" Damon asked, his eyebrows furrowing. He just showered and now he was expected him to lift heavy stuff? 

"It's a vampire, Damon, " Stephan said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Well, it kinda was as it doomed Damon where he was going with this. 

"And whoever it is probably hasn't been invited in" the elder concluded, earning a nod from Damon. 

"I got some blood bags so we can wake them up if we want to. If we do it inside the house the first thing they'll do is run out and probably rummage through town. Let's just get it out on the lawn," Stephan began to explain whilst he positioned himself on one side of the box, watching Damon place himself on the other. 

"I will draw a circle of salt around them. It's what's used to keep ghosts in check but with the right spell it can also keep vampires inside. Only with my word the circle can be broken. The salt cannot be moved," Bonnie stated, holding her book a little tighter to her chest. Elena held up a large package of salt and waved it around. 

"Let's get this done then," she stated, the lack of anticipation clear on her face. 

* * *

  
" _ Omnia Immundes cantaría siguencie fatlio… _ " 

Stephan impatiently walked around the box, nibbling on his fingers. Damon stood before Elena, shielding her without her knowledge while he focused his eyes on Bonnie. The witch had her eyes closed, Talisman in hand and repeating the same ominous words over and over again. 

The box was incircled by salt and enlightened torches that would help Bonnie focus her energy. 

Elena was glad that the two brother's mansion was quite far from the town as it would definitely be hard to complete satanic looking rituals with nosy neighbours around. 

The box suddenly started moving, shaking slightly and cracking on certain spots, alarming everyone but Bonnie. After a few seconds of rustling it stopped and the Bennet witch dramatically closed her book. 

"It is done." she simply stated before moving over to Elena. She took her best friend's hand and pulled her away from the box so that only Stephan and Damon were in close reach to it. 

"Will we be able to leave it if we enter?" Stephan asked, suspicious since he recalled how Bonnie's grandmother deceived them when it came to the cave spell. 

"Unlike the cave spell this one doesn't focus on what being may enter. Whatever is in the circle when the spell is cast can't leave it, anyone else may be able to step in our out of it," the witch spoke as if she had read the younger vampires mind. 

Damon and Stephan quickly glanced at each other. 

"Let's do this, shall we?" the elder spoke, lifting up the axt that he had brought with him. 

Damon would lie if he said he didn't feel badass with it. 

"Very well," Stephan, unemotional as ever, spoke before running forward and literally  _ kicking _ the box in, causing half of it to fall to the ground. 

Everyone's eyebrows shut up to their hairline upon the sudden strength the usually controlled Stephan possessed. 

"Why did I bring this then?" Damon asked, suddenly feeling stupid with his axt. 

Stephan rolled his eyes and dramatically moved his hand as to show 'its all yours'. Damon smiled and threw the axt to the ground before smashing the other half of the box in with solely his fist. Bonnie turned around to Elena, raising an eyebrow as to say 'just what do you see in them?'. 

Eena just let air pass through her nose as to tell Bonnie to shut up. 

Damon was now clutching his bloody hand, that was full of little wooden splinters, and looked at his axt with much regret in his eyes. 

"Maybe that's why," he concluded, hissing as he pulled some of them out. 

Everyone was so focused on the show Damon made out of his injury that no one seemed to notice what now stood in the circle. Everyone but Stephan. 

"Damon." the other said, urgency in his voice that grabbed Elena's and Bonnie's attention. 

"I know, I know. Should've used the foot," Damon spoke as he pulled the last piece of wood out of his hand. 

Only when Stephan let out a shaky breath and went to his knees did Damon turn his gaze to see what his brother was looking at. 

_ It can't be.  _

"That-...That-…" Damon began, voice shaking. 

"What is it?" Elena called out, worry filling her upon the brothers reaction. She started moving forward but Bonnie held her back with her arm, her book open in case she needed to defend them. 

Then she saw what the now shattered box had carried. A statue with a face all too familiar. The memory of a photo she had once seen in Stephan's room came to her mind. She preceded to put her hand over her opened mouth in shock. 

"Oh my god, is that-" 

" _ Celia"  _ Damon breathed out, eyes glassy as he he fixated the face of the statue. 

Both brothers were in shock. It couldn't be. 

"It must be a trick. Mind control. Klaus must be-" Stephan began, still on his knees. 

"No," Damon interrupted, taking a shaky step forward. Soon he reached the statue and cupped it's face with his hands, eyes roaming over it. 

"It's her, brother. It's our Sorrelina," he barely whispered. 

Bonnie shot around to look at Elena, eyebrows furrowed. 

"Their what?" she whispered, looking concerned as she clutched her book even tighter. 

"Their little sister.." Elena said, eyes not straying from the statue that Damon was holding onto. 

"Damon it cant-" Stephan began anew. His entire body was shaking. Damon wasn't in a better condition. 

"Look, brother." he simply said, moving slightly to the side so that Stephan could see, yet his hands never left the statue's face. 

The younger got up and closer to them using his vampire speed.

It couldn't be. His sister was dead. 

His heart stopped when he saw it. Saw what Damon wanted to show him. 

The necklace. 

The statue had the necklace that Celia had gotten from Damon. The necklace that she would have never taken off. That she would've taken to death with her. 

"Oh my god," he said. 

Suddenly things were set in motion. Stephan used his speed to get the blood bags that the frozen Elena had been holding. His sudden action made both girls yell out in surprise but he was already back by the statue. 

"What are you-" Damon, who seemed to be in a state of delirium, began to asked but he was shoved away by Stephan. 

"Stephan, wait! What if it's a trick!" Bonnie yelled out but she was too late. Stephan had already smeared blood over the statue's mouth. 

Alarmed, Bonnie turned to Elena. 

"You gotta get out of here!" she begged, her arms grasping her friend's shoulders. 

"What? Wh-" Elena began but was interrupted by Bonnie's frantic speaking,

"Elena they are reviving a vampire! The first thing it'll do is come for blood!" 

"But Bonnie your circ-" 

"They will make me break it, Elena. Please,  _ leave _ . I know how to defend myself from vampires but you-" 

Bonnie looked over to Stephan who was frantically trying to give his sister blood. The panic was clear on her face as she tried to push Elena towards her car. 

" _ No!"  _ the young girl shouted. Everyone was always trying to keep her out of things but she wouldn't stand for it. She was as much part in all of this as everyone else. 

"I'll go inside and get a stake. End of discussion!" Elena said. She could see it pained Bonnie but there was no time for discussion. A loud gasp escaping from Damon's lips proved that it was indeed urgent for Elena to go inside.

Celia was coming back to life. 

Although it was hard to make out in the dark, Elena could spot that the grey colour that made the female vampire seem like a statue was slowly fading the more blood Stephan fed to her. And then it happened. 

A crack. 

Celia had moved her arm. Had moved it so it could grasp the blood bag Stephan had been holding. 

The last thing Elena saw before she went inside was Damon's face. She had never seen such wonder, such pain and such confusion on the vampire before. On  _ anyone _ before. 

As soon as Elena was inside Bonnie went through the pages of her books in search of a particular spell. She stretched out her hand, her talisman hanging over it, and began to recite, 

" _ PARATAI ELOGUIAS IGNETE LUMIOUS-"  _

The fire of the torches went down their poles and formed a circle around the three vampires. Bonnie sighed in relief, knowing that she did everything she could for Elena to be safe.

Now the only thing to worry about was the sight in front of her. 

Everyone always got in trouble because Damon and Stephan love Elena too much and would move heaven and hell to protect her.

Bonnie watched dreadfully how the Salvatores fed their sister blood, how their expressions changed as they watched her come back to life. She immediately knew. 

She knew that this person was the one that the two brother's would love even more than Elena. It caused a single tear to roll down her cheek.

Ironic how _love_ was always the thing in this town that brought nothing but pain. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I capture how fucking badass Elijah is pls say yes


	3. Reunited

It took Celia 10 minutes and approximately 4 blood bags to even change from stone to skin. Her entire body felt like it was on fire as all her organs started working again once her veins started pumping the blood. Her heart frantically began beating again and she finally felt air hitting her lungs. It was then that she collapsed to the ground, not enough blood in her system to keep her upright. 

Then she felt it. Something around her arm. Something strong and warm holding her tight. She moved her head towards the direction, hearing multiple cracking sounds as her muscles moved. It took almost every bit of strength she just gained to simply open her eyes but it what she saw was so worth it. It's the sight she had hoped for ever since she has been trapped inside that box. 

"B-Brother…" she said or better tried to. Her lips, even though they were covered with blood, felt dry and to move her jaw hurt incredibly. 

She opened her mouth to say more, to say more to the blurry image of her beloved older brother but her instincts took over when she felt blood close to her mouth again. Her face changed, the veins under her eyes popping out and fangs exposing themselves as she bit into whatever source of blood she was given. Could have been a human, an animal or something else. The predator inside her didn't care as long as it was fed. 

She didn't know how much time passed, had lost a feeling for that a long time ago but soon enough she felt….  _ alive _ again. 

And it was horrible. 

All her senses came back at once. She could suddenly see clear, see the astonished faces of her brothers. She could feel the heat of the fire, could hear the crackling of the flames. 

" _ Cece."  _

Her head snapped back to Damon and then to Stephan. The corners of her mouth moved upwards. 

"I'm finally here," she spoke, utter relief washing over her, taking away any over-sensation she might have felt. 

"Oh  _ god,"  _ Damon said before he threw himself at her. 

Celia gasped at the feeling of contact, the warmth, the smell, the sound of his heartbeat rushing over her. 

"Brother!" she called out happily, clinging onto him. 

She hadn't even noticed the tears that were streaming down her face, not until they forced her to blink. 

That's when she noticed Stephan who was sitting in front of her and Damon, unmoving, blood all over his hands. 

" _ Stefano,"  _ she breathed out, reaching out for him. 

From afar Bonnie watched in awe how both Salvatore brothers, who she had only ever seen at arms length of each other, clung onto their sister, not caring that they were also hugging each other in the process. 

"I cannot believe that I finally made it here!" she heard the girl say. Bonnie decided to step closer and upon seeing how weakened the revived vampire still seemed to be she lowered the flames. 

The three of them exchanged more words of astonishment between them, ('I can't believe you're here!", "I'd never thought I'd see you again!") when finally Celia dropped the bombshell. 

"Where are father and mother?" she asked Stephan, grabbing his shoulders while looking around them.

Both brother's stopped in their tracks and turned to look at each other. 

"Mother and father?" Damon asked, reaching out to hold his sister elbow to steady her weak form.

"Shouldn't they be here, waiting for us? Or did they already move on?" Celia asked, her eyes still roaming around but catching nothing but flames. They hurt her eyes and she shut them tight, alarming Stephan. 

"Bonnie it is alright! You can break the circle!" he shouted, waving his arm to gain her attention. 

The witch sighed before complying. She knew if she wouldn't do it there would be unnecessary conflict. There also didn't seem to be great danger at the moment as their sister hasn't fully recovered yet. 

She broke the spell and quickly went inside, knowing she'd be safe there because Elena had to invite a vampire in before they could enter. 

Stephan turned back to his sister, worry taking over him as she kept looking around them. 

"Celia… why are you expecting our parents to be here?" Damon asked, eyebrows knitted as he moved a strand of her hair behind her ear. 

Only know did Stephan take a closer look at her appearance. Her hair must've originally been styled into beautiful [braids](https://images.app.goo.gl/GTvineyTzxmdpcnk6) yet right now it looked like she had been through a fight. So did her [dress](https://pin.it/DxG2AwQ). It was definitely from an older time period. Hell, it could've been something she'd have worn in 1834. 

It doomed him that whatever was about to follow wouldn't be as heartwarming as their reunion. 

"I just can't imagine that they would move on without us," Celia stated, earnestly looking into her brothers eyes like they should know what she was talking about.

Damon looked over at Stephan, confusing written all over his face. It was then when it doomed to the youngest brother what his sister was talking about. 

"Cecelia, sister, look at me!" he said frantically before grabbing her face. It alarmed both her and Damon but Stephan kept talking,

"Where do you think you are?  _ What  _ do you think you are?" he asked, tears welling up in his eyes. 

Celia looked dazzled, utterly confused as to why her brother would ask something like that. 

"You're asking me if the sky is blue, brother," she said, smiling while letting out a shaky laugh. 

Now it was Damon's turn to realize and widen his eyes. 

"Oh no…" he whispered, making his sister look at him. 

"What is it, brothers? I don't-.... I don't understand?" she asked, fear making its way to her. 

"Answer his questions, Celia.  _ What  _ and  _ where  _ do you think you are?" Damon repeated, staring into his sisters eyes with a great urgency. 

Celia turned to look from Damon to Stephan repeatedly, obviously frightened by their change of mood. 

"I'm dead," she said, furrowing her brows. 

"And on the other side where all souls with unfinished business go. You two died after I left town and waited for me here," she continued, stating her belief as if it was a fact that should be well known. 

Damon's entire chest felt tight, his heart breaking upon seeing his sister. 

"I'm afraid that you're not what you think you are, my dear sister," he spoke gently with a pained expression, reaching out for her. She moved away. Moved away from both of them as it began to doom to her what else might be the case. 

"N-no…. No…" she said, her pupils shaking as she moved away from her brothers. 

"My days as the living dead are over. I was  _ staked _ , my eternal existence was ended!" she exclaimed, pointing at her dress. It was covered with the blood that Stephan had fed her but there was also a red spot by her stomach that undoubtedly had been a stab wound. 

"Sister… you are still alive. Damon and I didn't die, just like you we turned into vampires..." Stephan began to explain, moving forward but Celia flinched away. 

"No! You two died by the hands of the likes of me! That Katherine who played with the both of you killed you and father!" 

The blood must've started to pump through her veins properly again as she seemed to get stronger by the second, able to move away on her own. Her cheeks regained a rosy color and her chest began heaving faster. She looked a little older from the last time they saw her but she still looked like [their sister](https://pin.it/BYxkRYd). 

"Katherine didn't kill us, she  _ turned _ us," Stephan continued to explain. 

"We are not dead, little sister, neither you or me or Stephan. We're in Mystic Falls… only…only at another time," Damon finished, his eyes never leaving his sister who gaped at him. 

She took her time to process this information, process that she hadn't truly died, her breathing becoming even more uncontrolled. 

"So… so you mean to tell me...t-that I have not been dead but…" 

"You are a vampire, sister. If a vampire doesn't get blood they don't die, they turn into stone," Stephan stepped in, grabbing his sisters hands to make her focus on him.

Celia began to drastically shake her head, panic clear in her eyes. 

"No… No…" she repeated over and over again, shutting her eyes together so she wouldn't have to face the truth. 

"Celia…Celia... _ hey,  _ look at me!" Damon, grabbing his sister face forcefully to stop her from shaking it. The sudden action startled her and she watched her brother with wide eyes, tears covering her cheeks. 

Damon knew what he would say next would probably traumatize his sister yet he needed to do it. 

"Sis, it's almost been a 150 years since we last saw each other," he spoke, his voice laced with hurt about their time spent apart. 

Celia only began to panic more.

"I...that...it means…" she tried to say but her hyperventilating was burdening her. 

"What's the last year you remember?" Stephan asked, tightening the grip on his sisters shaking hands. 

Celia looked around herself, looked at the new world she was suddenly thrown into. This had to be a dream, a nightmare. She thought… She thought she just had been dying slowly, bleeding out for maybe a day, a month, a year or a decade..she couldn't tell. She had lost her track of time. 

_ But a century?  _

"T-the last y-year I remember is…1916," Celia spoke. 

Both brothers looked at each other in shock. 

* * *

"What's going on?" Elena asked as soon as Bonnie went inside the Salvatore house. 

"She drank more blood and started to look alive again. I broke the spells I casted and went inside, I can't tell you more. There are probably talking to her right now," Bonnie said, placing her book and talisman down by the table of drinks. 

Elena quickly moved forward, ready to go out but Bonnie stopped her. 

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked, holding onto her best friends wrist. 

"I-" 

"You don't, Elena." Bonnie simply said, ending the conversation. 

There was an awkward silence which was, thankfully, interrupted by a phone ringing. It took them a few seconds to figure out that it wasn't one of theirs but Stephan's, who had left his on the sofa. 

Elena surged forward to pick it up and changed her expression quickly when she saw the caller ID. She answered the call, looking very pissed at which Bonnie raised her eyebrows. 

"Klaus." Elena just said when she put the phone to her ear. Bonnie pressed her lips into a thin line. 

" **Ah my sweet Elena, how nice to hear your voice!"** Klaus spoke, making the young girl roll her eyes. 

" **May I talk to the owner of this cellphone?"** the hybrid continued. 

"About what, Elijah's little visit?" she asked, not covering up how pissed she was. 

" **That was one of the topics I was attending on bringing up, yes,"** Klaus replied and Elena could practically  _ hear _ him smirk.

"Stephan is currently unavailable. He is dealing with Elijah's little surprise," she spat out, running around the room while speaking to cool off from her anger. 

" **I think my dear brother failed to mention 'a surprise'. Enlighten me, would you, love?"** Klaus spoke. 

Elena scoffed. How dare he act so nonchalant with everything that happened because of him tonight. 

"I hope you know that if it turns out you are deceiving them right now to torture them they will make your life  _ miserable _ !" she ranted, not caring that she was threatening the most powerful creature on this planet. 

She heard some laughing and then there was shuffling before a smoother and deeper voice spoke up, 

" **Hello, Elena. "**

It was Elijah. 

Elena's blood began to boil.

"I thought you were a man of honor, Elijah. I can't believe you are doing this to them right now. Not  _ you.  _ How could you-" 

" **Elena, please let me interrupt you to ensure you that I have no idea what you are talking about. I did visit the Salvatores to give them a little warning but I am unaware of any 'surprises'. If I had put something in their way I wouldn't act like I didn't know about it so please, tell me, what you are accusing me of?"**

Elena stopped dead in her tracks. 

"It wasn't you… the box…?" she asked, looking over to Bonnie who seemed just as irritated as she was. 

" **I'm afraid I do not know of any boxes,"** Elijah said, seeming amused by the conversation. 

"Elijah, this is serious. You swear you didn't bring her here?" Elena said. She knew that if Elijah swore that he was telling the truth he'd do so. He had given her no reason not to trust him. 

The Original sighed, now getting a little frustrated with Elena's vague answers. 

**"I swear** **to you that neither I nor Nicklaus or any other member of my family have given the Salvatores whatever mysterious object or person you are referring to,"** Elijah said, sounding rather bored now. 

Elena gasped, her hand covering her stomach. 

"But if you didn't…then who…" she said, more to herself than to Elijah. 

**"May I ask what you are referring to?"**

Elijah's voice startled her and she spoke without thinking,

"Their sister," she said.

Silence followed in which Elena cursed herself for telling Elijah something about Celia. It was definitely something Klaus would use against them. Which, again, it was odd to think that he truly didn't seem to be the one behind all of this. 

**"Their sister is long dead."** Elijah suddenly said before hanging up.

Confusion washed over Elena. 

So Elijah  _ did _ know the sister of Damon and Stephan? 

But… he believes her to be dead,so it really couldn't have been him. Maybe it was Klaus? Elijah could only speak for himself, his family had a tendency to go back on their word. What if-

Elena's train of thought was interrupted by the front door suddenly opening, revealing a dishevelled looking Damon. 

"We have a problem," he simply said, following by Stephan who was carrying someone. He walked a few more steps into the house and then threw the person on the ground. 

It was Alaric. A bloody, dead Alaric. 

* * *

Apparently the Salvatore reunion had been ruined as soon as Alaric, who Damon had secretly texted to fetch Elena, arrived. The minute he stepped out of the car Celia had run forward and sunk her teeth into the neck of the vampire slayer. 

Alaric must have forgotten to take vervain as their sister had almost sucked him dry despite her brothers efforts to get her of him. 

Only when she was done, Alaric having sunk to the ground as he was dead, she realised her actions. In shock she ran away and into the woods.

"So she's just out there?" Elena, who had sunk to the ground to place Alaric's head on her lap. 

"She won't go near town. Stephan and I know where she is. We will to fetch her and then deal with it," Damon, always the man of action, declared, already making his way to the door. 

"You should probably know that Klaus called before you go," Bonnie said, making the vampire stop in his track. 

"What?" Stephan asked, looking between Elena and Bonnie. 

"It wasn't Elijah who put her here," Elena explained. 

Her gaze fixated on Damon. She knew that expression and she didn't like it. It was the expression he had right before doing something incredibly stupid, dangerous and impulsive. 

"Tell me more," Damon gritted between his teeth. 

"Damon,  _ no,"  _ Elena said, knowing what was about to happen. 

"Getting your sister back is more important right now!" she explained. Upon seeing Damon  _ and  _ Stephan, whose entire existence was currently focused on getting hating Klaus, Elena knew that right now it didn't matter that their sister was probably rummaging through town. Only their dispute with the Originals mattered. 

The girl sighed, defeated. 

"He swore that none of the other Originals had anything to do with it but… "

"But  _ what,  _ Elena?" Stephan pressed rudely, surprising his former girlfriend. She still wasn't used to his unhuman side. 

"He knew her, who she was. He thinks she's dead," the girl admitted. 

Damon had this glint in his eyes that even worried Bonnie and she quickly stepped forward. 

"You're not gonna do anything stupid, are you?" she asked, worriedly looking at Elena for an answer to her question. 

"You go and fetch our sister.  _ I'll  _ be giving the Originals a fun little visit just like our dear Elijah did earlier," Damon said to Stephan, diabolical smile on his face that covered up the sheer anger he was feeling inside. 

"Why do you think I wouldn't want to come with you and smash in Klaus face?" Stephan asked, eyebrows raised arrogantly. 

Damon sighed and looked at Elena. 

"Tell Blondie to fetch Celia. Looks like Stephan and I have something to do." he spoke before running out. 

Just as Stephan was about to leave Elena called out for him to stay. He turned to look at her, clearly annoyed. 

"Where should we even look for he-" 

"There is no  _ we _ , Elena. Caroline is the only vampire that can handle this. Tell her to bring Celia back to the house. She will need to go to the mystic waterfall," Stephan explained before running after his brother and leaving the two girls (and the dead Alaric) alone. 

"Why didn't you stop them! What if she isn't by the waterfall?" Bonnie asked frantically. 

Elena just sighed. 

"There is nothing I could've done," she said while pulling her phone out from the pocket of her jeans. 

"Damon was already gone and Stephan's only motivation is to kill Klaus. We better call Caroline…" 

She dialled her friend, guilt washing over her. 

" **Elena? What's up?"**

The young girl sighed. 

"Hey, I need you to fetch a revived vampire by the waterfalls," she spoke. 

**"You need me to do** **_what?"_ **

* * *

To say Elijah's mood was damped was a drastic understatement. The mention of the Salvatore sister had the Originals abruptly end the phone call…. by smashing the phone with his bare hand. 

Klaus, who had used his supernatural hearing to listen to their conversation, immediately grabbed his brother by the arm and looked at him with wide eyes.

"What were they saying about Cecelia?" he asked him. 

Elijah fixated his gaze on the staircase behind Klaus, his jaw clenching. 

"Nothing of importance. She's dead." he spoke before stepping forward so that Klaus wouldn't touch him anymore, making the hybrid sigh. 

"After all this time you still can't even handle the mention of the name, brother?" he judged. 

"Leave him be, Nick," Rebekah who suddenly appeared by the nearby doorframe spoke as she watched her brothers. She must've listened to their previous conversation with Elena too. 

"I do not wish to press on with this matter," Elijah declared still not looking at either one of his siblings. 

"Come on, brother. I know you claim to not have any feelings left about that whole _incident_ but-" 

"I do not, Nicklaus. Do I need you to remind you that you are the cause of that?" Elijah said, interrupting his brother as he finally turned to look at him. 

Klaus licked his lips and observed his brother's face. It didn't let any emotion on. 

He simply shrugged, throwing arms in the air. 

"Then I guess the Salvatore brothers were simply messing with us once again," he concluded with a smile on his face. Elijah nodded, glad that the matter was cleared.

"Very well, then," he said before leaving to go to his room upstairs. 

"You know that name is torture for him, Nick. Don't say it out loud," Rebekah said in the snarky way that younger siblings liked to talk to their older ones before also leaving. 

Klaus stood alone in the foyer of his mansion, drink in his hand while his usual smirk was replaced with a smaller, more genuine smile. 

His other hand came up to his mouth, a few of his fingers grazing his lips. 

"Haven't said that name in a long, long time myself," he spoke before finishing his drink.

* * *

About an hour later the doorbell to their mansion rang and Klaus, who didn't find anyone around he could've ordered to do it for him, was the the one to open it. The sight that greeted him were the two Salvatore brothers, looking as mad as ever. 

"May I help you?" Klaus asked ironically, usual smirk on his face. 

"Actually, you can," Damon said, his eyes glaring through Klaus. 

"How about you take this?" he said before lifting his hand that was holding an axt. 

Before Klaus could react, Stephan kicked him  _ hard  _ and the Hybrid went flying through his foyer, his back caching into the the wooden panelling of the stairs. Without missing a beat Damon threw the axt into the house and it landed right in the shoulder blade of the hybrid, making him groan in pain. He looked up to see that the two brothers had invaded his home, both holding stakes in their hands. 

"This is about to be good," Damon said, moving his head from one side to another to crack it before raising his arm and coming for Klaus, ready to kill. 

* * *

**1855**

_ "We're blessed with sun today, aren't we, Marla?" Giuseppe Salvatore asked the maid that had just refilled his drink. He was currently on the porch of his mansion, an open book on his lap and a cigar in his hand. _

_ "Your children seem to enjoy every bit of it, Sir," the maid spoke, smiling as she moved her head to the left to look out at the green property of the Salvatores where currently three little children were playing.  _

_ "You won't be able to catch me!" Celia, who recently turned 7, called out before running even faster. Her two brothers were chasing her around the garden, calling after her. Laughter filled the air, the three of them enjoying the warm weather and fresh air.  _

_ "We're just going easy on you because you are a girl!" Damon, who liked to tease his little sister, called out. _

_ "Exactly!" little Stephan agreed, happy to have an excuse for losing.  _

_ Celia laughed, picking up her dress so that she could run even faster. She never stopped running, or laughing, as she turned her head to see how faw her brothers were behind. It was a mistake to focus on what's behind her because the next thing she knew was that her foot hit something hard and she was suddenly on the ground. _

_ The shock of falling brought tears to her eyes and when she tried to move she felt an incredibly painful stab in her knee.  _

_ "Sister!" she heard her brothers call out and she bit the insides of her cheeks.  _

_ She wouldn't cry. Damon always made fun of her if she cried for silly reasons and she didn't like that.  _

_ "Are you okay?" Stephan, who had reached her first, asked.  _

_ She simply shook her head but didn't say anything. She was afraid she might cry if she opened her mouth and crying was only for girls and girls were weak. She wanted to be strong. _

_ "Let me look at that, okay?" Damon who had finally arrived and sat down next to her, spoke, his hand already riling up her dress so that he could look at her knee.  _

_ It was bruised and bloody. Celia whimpered as the air hit the wound, her cheeks beginning to hurt from how much she was biting into them.  _

_ "Look at Stephan, okay?" Damon asked her and she complied. Her brother seemed a little helpless and looked at Damon.  _

_ "You need to breath, Celia. Focus on Stephan and breath," the eldest began to explain.  _

_ The siblings complied, looking back to one another whilst Celia began to breath in and out. She heard something rip and suddenly pressure was applied to her wound and it made her flinch and look at Damon.  _

_ "It's alright, it's alright! Keep looking at Stephan. Focus on his nose. He has a funny nose, don't you think? If you look inside it you might find something strange," the 12-year-old continued, making his voice sound as calming as possible.  _

_ Celia turned to look at Stephan, still breathing in and out like Damon told her to. Stephan, who finally realized what Damon was trying to do, pulled a funny face before throwing his head back so that Celia could look up his nose.  _

_ The young girl began laughing wholeheartedly, pain forgotten.  _

_ "I see something! I see something!" she exclaimed happily, making Stephan shriek.  _

_ "YOU DO?" he asked before throwing his hands over his nose to cover whatever strange thing his sister had found. _

_ Damon laughed along with his siblings before picking his sister up bridal style so that he could carry her to their father.  _

_ "Always remember Cece, when you're hurt or don't know what to do you need to calm down. Just remember to breath iiiiiin and ooouuut," the boy spoke, imitating his method by exaggerating his breathing. Celia laughed happily and nodded.  _

_ "I will!" she promised, smiling from ear to ear.  _

  
  


"In and out. In and out. In…. and out,"

Caroline sighed in relief when she  _ finally  _ found the waterfalls. She had been in these damn woods for over half an hour and Elena was calling her every five minutes to see if she had found Damon's and Stephan's sister. 

When she had gotten the phone call she had been more surprised that the two had a sister than that the girl apparently killed Alaric and then went off. It made her felt bad for herself. 

"In and out, in and out. I just need to breath. In and out…" 

Caroline quickly typed a message to Elena, not expecting it to deliver since they were literally in the middle of nowhere. 

"H-Hello?" she asked carefully, hoping that she wouldn't startle the young girl that was crouching down by the water. She had her arms slung around her knees which were pulled close to her chest and was rocking back and forth like a maniac, worrying Caroline. 

Upon the blondes greeting she stopped though and turned to look at her before gulping. Her eyes roamed over Carolines body and just as the vampire wanted to get insulted by this action she realized. 

Her clothes.

They were quite literally proof that this was another time period. Suddenly a wave of sadness washed over Caroline. She couldn't even begin to imagine how that Celia must be feeling right now. 

"My name is Caroline. I know your brothers. May I come closer?" she asked gently while taking a step forward. 

Celia simply nodded before resting her forehead on her arms so that she was hiding her face. 

"I know this must be hard for you. You've been inside a box for 150 years," Caroline said while sitting down next to the girl. 

Celia's breathing started to get uneven again but she sunk her fingers into her legs and tried to pull herself together. 

"In and out, in and out…" she repeated while breathing accordingly.

Caroline realized that she was perfectly cut out for this job. It was just like dealing with a panicked and pained Tyler when he was turning into a werewolf. 

"Hey, it's okay," she said while reaching out for her but Celia swatted her hand away. 

"Please, don't. I could hurt you! I already hurt that man, I-... I didn't mean to…I don't know-" 

"Hey,  _ shhhhht, it's okay! _ That man is okay! He is protected by magic, you didn't kill him! He'll be fine! I'm just like you, believe me. We've all been there," Caroline said. 

It seemed to work as Celia was beginning to calm down. 

Okay, on to the next phase. 

"Look, I know this must be hard for you but look at the positive side!" she spoke,reaching out for one of Celia's hand only to notice it was wet. The girl must've washed her face and neck from the blood as only her dress was now a bloody mess. 

"I've left my loved one's behind. What good could be in there?" Celia asked hopelessly, finally turning to look at Caroline. 

"You have them back now! Your brothers are here and so are you! You finally have a family again!"

Caroline didn't know if that was a winning argument or not but she shot her shot nonetheless. All she really did know was that no one had a clue how this girl became a vampire but she was the long lost sister of the Salvatores. She prayed that they had a good relationship with each other so that she could be happy about it. 

"I-... you're right…" she said, making Caroline sigh in relief. 

Thank fuck. 

"Oh my god, you  _ are _ right," Celia said while suddenly standing up, Caroline following her, confused. 

"And they are immortal too! Damon and Stephan are immortal!" Celia exclaimed, a smile coming onto her face. 

If Caroline was a little overwhelmed with the sudden change of mood she didn't show it and instead chose to be happy with the other vampire. 

What she didn't expect was what followed. Celia had called out, 

"Oh you wonderful creature, you're right! " 

And then  _ hugged  _ Caroline. 

At first she was absolutely baffled but then she couldn't help but laugh out loud. Who would have thought that the sister of the Salvatores, who probably were the most dangerous vampires on earth after the Originals, could have a sister that was this…. _ precious _ .

Or maybe Caroline just had badass comforting skills. She liked to think it was a bit of both while she let herself get hugged. 

"Come on, I'll bring you to your brothers house," Caroline said, ending the hug. 

"That hideous brown thing?" Celia asked, making the blonde girl laugh before she nodded. 

Celia seemed to be a bit saddened again. 

"I suppose our original home hasn't made it through the years then…" she said, more to herself, while looking down to the ground. 

Alarmed, Caroline tried to advert the other girl. 

"Let me just take you to the house and teach you about stuff, okay?" she suggested, Celia cock her head to the side. 

"What 'stuff'?" she asked. 

Caroline smiled and stretched her hand out so that Celia could take it. She did without questioning and the two began to walk through the forest at a human speed. 

"About the things you missed, how to adapt, stuff like that. The guy you attacked is actually a history teacher so he can tell you all the stuff you missed! Just apologise, he'll totally forgive you. Damon killed him about a million times already. If not I think your brother has like an obsession with writing diaries. Elena, his ex-girlfriend, told me he has one of every year since he turned," Caroline rambled as they made their way through the woods. 

"Ex-girlfriend?" Cecilia asked, eyes blown wide. 

"A previous love of his," Caroline explained, hoping she got the old people language right. 

"Warning, she looks just like Katherine because she's-" 

"A Petrova Doppelgänger," Cecilia breathed out, stopping in her tracks. 

"Then he must be here," she continued, eyebrows furrowed as she began to put the pieces together. 

"He?" Caroline asked. 

Oh no. 

She couldn't possibly be talking about-

"Klaus." Cecelia said, her eyes meeting Carolines. 

"You know Klaus?" she asked, confusion written all over her face. 

"I know that where a Doppelgänger is there is Klaus. Is he here in Mystic Falls?" 

The urgency Cecilia now gained worried Caroline but she kept it to herself and just nodded. 

"We need to get to him,  _ now."  _ The vampire spoke, picking up her dress and marching forward. 

"But-... Your brothers…" Caroline said while trying to keep up with Celia. 

"Please, you need to bring me to Klaus if you know where he is. I  _ beg  _ you!" the girl spoke, turning around and grabbing Caroline's wrists without any force behind it while staring into her eyes. 

Caroline sighed. Damn, that girl had some good puppy eyes. 

She knew she was probably gonna regret what she did next, 

"Okay, okay. I'll take you," she said. Cecilia smiled brightly as to thank her and moved forward again, Caroline trotting behind her she texted Elena about the change of plans. 

"We will need to take my car, though" Caroline explained after she was done texting. 

"Your what?" Cecilia asked, curiously. 

"Umm… we shall need to take use of my electric carriage… vehicle…thing..." 

Celia cocked her head to the side again, confused. Caroline sighed. 

She was _definitely_ going to regret this. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The scene between Caroline and Celia was so sweet I'm-
> 
> Also in my head the fighting scenes are always so badass like Damon throwing a fucking axt at Klaus damn


	4. Dance the night away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The model I have in mind for Celia is called Diana Silver, particularly this picture of her inspired me:
> 
> https://images.app.goo.gl/KqqDfZLgCfrqT6e4A

To say Elijah's evening was far from pleasant would already be too kind of an description. In modern words you could say that it 'straight up sucked'. 

He was already annoyed with recent events, such as getting daggered, undaggered and reunited with his siblings who, combined, seemed the maturity of a three year old. Now, he also had to deal with the two Salvatores brothers who only seemed to learn through death threats. 

And now this. The name he hadn't dared to call out for over a century. The name he had tried  _ to forget _ for over a century. 

He took a few to steps to his window, looking out of it to see into another time. 

**1865, Italy**

_ It was a pleasant evening in the house of the Marino's, the most powerful family of the district. They had their mansion in a beautiful, rural town a few miles from Florence. The men would spend most of their time in the big city, doing business and God knows what, but every second weekend they'd come home to their wives and hold festivities on their property.  _

_ Elijah was currently attending one of these festivities. The Marinos dealt with many things but mostly with art. For all they knew he was an Englishman sent from the royal family to select pieces that would grace the halls of the british palace. He had compelled anyone that wanted to see if he really was who he claimed to be and earned himself the title as their most important buyer. The head of the family, Michollini Marino, had invited him to stay with his family in their hometown whilst they waited for the selected pieces from all around Italy to arrive in Florence.  _

_ Michollini was the father of three sons who were in the business with him. He was the only one who could speak English and therefore talk to Elijah, who pretended that he wasn't able to speak Italian. The things people say if they think you can't hear them are sometimes the most valuable pieces of information.  _

_ "Dear Elijah!" Michollini spoke with his heavy accent, coming forward to engulf the vampire in a hug.  _

_ "Are you enjoying the festivities?" he asked, clicking his glass with the one Elijah was holding. The latter smiled, looking around the ballroom.  _

_ It was filled with warm candlelight and beautiful people in beautiful clothing. Elijah had to say that despite the old fashioned morals, especially those of men, he was rather enjoying this century.  _

_ "I just wish I'd be able to make conversation. Your family must think that I'm prying," he spoke, charming smile on his face.  _

_ "Ah, that's exactly why I wanted to bring you here! I have someone in my family that is able to speak to you!" he exclaimed, making Elijah raise his eyebrow.  _

_ The Original had to suppress a devious smile. His plan was working.  _

_ "Just where is she…" Michollini said,looking around the room.  _

_ "Ah, right there!" he exclaimed, pointing towards the dance floor.  _

_ Elijah followed his gaze, eyebrows knitted as he tried to make out exactly which person he was referring to.  _

_ Then he saw her.  _

_ Suddenly, all air was knocked out of his lungs, his usually controlled expression going completely slack as his mouth opened.  _

_ Elijah always thought that the Petrova Doppelganger was the most beautiful girl on earth, that nothing could come near her.  _

_ Yet this girl, the one he had been sent out to find, was the kind of beauty he had never seen before. She wasn't equal or better than the Doppelgänger he once so adored. She wasn't even comparable. Her beauty stood it for itself.  _

_ She had soft brown hair, half of it [styled](https://images.app.goo.gl/TLiMBj32WmuHCJS29) up into braids while the rest was hanging over her shoulders. Her face was small and skin tan. Her lips were plush, red and stretched into a beautiful smile. She had a straight and pointy nose and her brown eyes were brought out by her dark lashes. Her eyebrows were perfectly curved and a strong facial feature. She was definitely an Italian beauty. A young girl full of life.  _

_ She had a rather petite body, a small waist highlighted by her corseted [dress](https://pin.it/p7NzEFI). Her cheeks were of a rosy colour, flushed from her dancing.  _

_ And boy, did she dance.  _

_[She was in the center](https://images.app.goo.gl/z6ji3ZBA4iuzCDLN6), everyone else dancing around her, building an impressive formation. She was on her own, moving to the upbeat music that reminded Elijah of the Irish rather than the Italians. She also danced like the Irish, holding her dress up and focusing her energy on her legs. Multiple people did it like her, laughter filling the room.  _

_ "I told the band to play the music of your people so you'd feel at home, my dear friend!" Michello, delighted by the alcohol he was taking in, exclaimed. He had to speak rather loudly as the band was not only speeding up their pace but also increasing their volume, causing almost everyone to join the dancing. The young beauty was still in the centre of the dance, enticing Elijah with the pure joy she was radiating.  _

_ "Who is this?" he asked, breathless, his eyes never leaving the girl.  _

_ He already knew who she was. His mission.  _

_ Yet he still asked. Asked himself. Who is this girl that she could make him feel this way?  _

_ "My daughter-in-law, our sweet Cecilia Salvatore Marino," Michollini explained, his eyes also focused on the dance floor while he smiled. He had pronounced the name Salvatore in the Italian way (Sal-va-to-re, with a rolled r).  _

_ "She is from a wealthy family that moved their business from Italy to America three generations ago. I visited them last year. She is a beauty and well cultured. Smart, too. I knew she could be useful to my business as my family has finally made a name for themselves overseas now. I won't always be here to play the translators, you see,"  _

_ Elijah clutched his glass a little tighter and forced himself to look away from the youthful beauty and to the scum in front of him.  _

_ "I made a deal with her father. You could say we had a fair trade, her for goods I imported for him," the older man continued to explain.  _

_ Elijah had to suppress the urge to kill the man in front of him and instead chose to continue playing his role.  _

_ "Well, how nice to finally have someone else to talk to," he stated, raising his glass in celebration.  _

_ Michollini copied the action, taking a sip out of his own glass.  _

_ "Let me introduce you two once the dance is over, shall I?" the head of the family spoke, giving his now empty glass to one of the servants.  _

_ Elijah smiled, ignoring that his heart suddenly wanted to jump out of his chest.  _

_ Both men went back to focus on the dance floor. Cecelia was now spinning in circles, her arms stretched into the air while the rest of the people were still dancing with focus on their feet. The last verse played and soon enough the song was ended, the band earning themselves a wave of applause.  _

_ While they were thanking the crowd and preparing for their next song Celia turned to talk to some people, her back now facing Elijah and Michollini who stood by the other side of the room.  _

_ The head of the family placed his hand on the back of Elijah's back and lead both of them through the room until they reached their destination.  _

_ "Nuora," Michollini spoke, making Cecilia turn around.  _

_ Elijah's breath stopped for a second. She was even more beautiful up close.  _

_ "Sí, suocero?" she asked, smile on her face as she looked at her in law. Her eyes then went to Elijah, her smile faltering a little. Elijah could hear her heartbeat speed up and he'd lie if he claimed it didn't make him feel rather smug.  _

_ Michello introduced him in Italian, explained his status, saying he was important and that she needed to impress him. Elijah wanted to roll his eyes.  _

_ Once he was done she nodded, smile back on her face, _

_ "A pleasure to meet you, Sir," she said while picking up her dress and doing a curtsey.  _

_ He smiled charmingly and bowed while taking her hand in his. Once he was back up he kissed it, making Celia suck in a breath while locking his eyes with hers.  _

_ Michollini began talking to Cecilia in Italian. He was explaining that Elijah's order would take some months to arrive and that he would stay in this town. He told Celia to take care of him, basically fulfill his every wish, since Michollini would be too busy to do so. _

_ Cecilia nodded, smiling brightly as she turned to look at Elijah.  _

_ "It seems like you and I shall spend the upcoming summer together, Sir," Celia said.  _

_ Elijah smiled too and for the first time since his arrival in Italy, it was a genuine smile. The girl carried that kind of happiness that would spread over to oneself.  _

_ "You two get cozy, then," Michollini said, laughing wholeheartedly before leaving them be. Elijah's eyes followed the man when his gaze landed on the two well dressed young men he remembered from Florence. They were standing on the other side of the room and eyeing Celia. Elijah turned around to look at her but her gaze was also fixed on the two young mem. She must've followed the vampires eyes.  _

_ "You're looking at my husband and his brother," she exclaimed before looking back at Elijah.  _

_ "Master Marino's sons, I see," he said.  _

_ Then he used his supernatural hearing to focus on their conversation, translating it in his head  _

_ "You're just okay with father giving that Brit your wife to play with?" one of them said, clearly upset.  _

_ The other just laughed.  _

_ "Father could her give her around the horses and I wouldn't care. At least this way we'll get a fortune out of it," he exclaimed.  _

_ Elijah saw red. He was about to impulsively step in when- _

_ "My lord?" Celia asked, snapping the vampire out of their conversation. _

_ Forgive me," he said, smile back on his face. This time he had to force it.  _

_ "I was focusing on the beautiful music," he lied, turning to look at the band.  _

_ Celia hummed,  _

_ "Music and dance. They can make everything more bearable," she said with a heavy heart, her eyes wandering to the two brother's again but only for a split second.  _

_ Elijah focused on her face, still mesmerized by her beauty.  _

_ "You did seem to enjoy it. A shame you had to do so alone, though," he stated, smiling at the memory of her on the dance floor.  _

_ "My husband does not particularly see the joy in festivities. He only has his work in mind," Celia said, trying her best to not sound bitter while she made a smile form on her face.  _

_ Elijah smirked before stretching his hand out,  _

_ "Well, that's a shame. Shall I make up for your husband's lack of interest, then?" he said, knowing very well how his statement could be interpreted in various ways.  _

_ Celia blushed slightly, looking between the dancefloor and the man in front of her. Elijah could see the conflict in her eyes, the fear she carried. There was a hint of something else though. Curiousness, which finally took the upper hand in her inner conflict.  _

_ "The pleasure would be mine," she said, bowing before she took Elijah's hand in hers.  _

_ They danced all night, careful to touch as little as possible since they were still under the watchful eyes of Cecelia new family.  _

_ Still, it had been one of the greatest nights the vampire has ever had.  _

Elijah didn't know for how long he had been standing in his room, looking out of the window. He was only snapped out of his memories by sudden knocking on his door. 

It was his sister, Rebekah, who looked rather bored. 

"I just thought that you should know that the Salvatore brothers are trying to kill Nicklaus at the moment," she said apathetically. 

Elijah sighed and put his drink down by his bedside table. 

It's not like he didn't warn them. 

* * *

"Yep, you're definitely the bigger bitch," Damon said to Klaus, glaring at the Hybrid that had just put a stake through the vampires stomach. 

Klaus had quickly recovered from the surprise attack from the two brother's and was now fighting against them. They were quick, merciless and  _ pissed, _ but Klaus was stronger. He'd always be stronger. 

"What is going on?" Elijah asked as he jogged down the stairs. He had left the jacket of his suit behind ('no need to get blood on it' he had thought) and was now dressed in black trousers and a white button up. 

" _ You _ ," Damon breathed out, standing up and running forward to attack Elijah. The vampire stopped him midrun, grabbed him by the neck and threw him back down. Damon's landing literally cracked the floor and Klaus, who was currently fighting off Stephan, groaned out. 

"I  _ just  _ had that renovated!" he called out. 

Damon coughed up some blood and groaned. His back was definitely broken. It would need a minute or two to regain his strength. 

"And I thought I had made myself clear earlier today?" Elijah, who wasn't affected in the slightest, spoke up once he finally reached the end of the stairs. Just then Klaus managed to stab Stephan with a stake and the vampire fell to the ground, next to Damon. The two Original brothers gathered together and looked down on the Salvatores. 

"Clearly you didn't, brother. Or they simply have a death wish," Klaus spoke, raising his hands in the air while shrugging. 

"You two think you can just pull shit like that and we'd leave it be?" Damon asked while still coughing up some blood. 

"This again," Klaus sighed. 

"What is the accusation this time?" Elijah asked while he rolled up the sleeves of his shirt.

"You know what you did," Stephan spoke, groaning as he sat upright. 

"How did you do it, huh? Had one of your witches revive her? Gave us an illusion? Saw that all of this would happen a 150 years ago and turned her?" Stephan said, anger visible on his face. His brows were furrowed, face full of blood and eyes full of rage. 

A few cracks could be heard. Damon was moving his shoulders, his bones starting to go back to their original position.

"Just what on earth are you spouting about?" Klaus asked, clearly amused by the brothers. 

Damon turned to look to his brother. The two exchanged a quick glance, Damon nodding ever so slightly. 

" _ About our sister, you jackas _ s," Damon gritted through his teeth before both he and Stephan moved forward, each grabbing one of the Originals.

Damon had thrown Elijah back into the staircase, grabbing him by the throat. 

It was the final straw for the Original. Everytime the name was mentioned his heart shattered. He wouldn't allow this anymore. 

For the first time in a long, long time Elijah lost his composure. 

"YOUR SISTER IS DEAD _!"  _ he screamed, swatting Damon's arm away. He then grabbed him and surged forward using his vampire speed. He also grabbed Stephan,who was in the midst of fighting Klaus, and came to an halt. He was holding each brother by the throat,both handing a few inches above the ground,whilst standing in the middle of the foyer. 

"How would you know?" Damon gritted between his teeth, his hands coming up to try and get Elijah's off his throat. 

"BECAUSE  _ I _ WAS THE ONE WHO TURNED HER! I WAS THE ONE WHO  _ KILLED  _ HER!" he screamed, his usually carefully styled hair falling over his face, making him look like a maniac. Before either one of the brothers could say anything Elijah threw them forward with all his power, destroying the front of the house as both brothers went through

Then it all happened at once. 

They landed in the driveway where a car had just parked. Two female vampires stepped out of the car and ran to them. 

"Stefano! Damon!" Cecelia screamed, sitting down by her brothers side. 

Inside the house the two Originals stopped in their tracks, their mouths hanging open. They could see the driveway through the hole in their house but they couldn't believe it. 

This was impossible. 

"Celia…" Elijah whispered. 

Said vampire heard it and snapped her head to the side. 

"Oh my god," she exclaimed, worry for her brothers forgotten. 

She only focused on him, her hand coming up to cover her open mouth. 

" _ Sei tu amore mio,"  _ she whispered, shock written all over her face. 

'It is you, my love _. _ '


	5. A Masacre

**1865**

_Although the biggest mansion in town belonged to the Marinos and could easily inhabit the entire family, Celia and Elijah stayed in a smaller cottage a few yards away from the main house. The eldest son, Celia's husband, had built it once he had reached adolescence._

_Back then everyone knew it was so that he could live out his frivolous affairs but as soon as he got - forcefully- married he moved those to the city where he stayed most of them time._

_People, especially the other wives of the Marino family, were upset about a married woman staying alone with an unmarried stranger but with after harsh words from Michollini everyone accepted the fact._

_It's been a few weeks since Elijah had moved in. His and Celia's attraction had only grown, making it almost insufferable for the vampire not to do something about his feelings. Just how often had he thought about kissing her?_

_In moments when they were alone it was the hardest._

_They often took walks through the fields or the town. Elijah would tell her about the world, the places he's been. He'd talk about his family issues, how he had a brother that he loved but always brought trouble to him. He felt like the young girl understood, especially since in some form or another her brothers were the cause of the reason she got sold off. It was something she'd confide him in. She told him about her heartbreak. How her new family wasn't the kindest._

_It was something anyone could see. They never talked to her unless she was of use. She was completely alone._

_But she would advert from those topics if they got too intense to talk about. She would instead tell him about her passions, such as art, music and dance or her beliefs, which were far too modern and nothing she could ever say out loud in front of anyone else._

_It felt intimate and soon the vampire realised that they were each other's only friend._

_Currently Elijah was looking Celia. Both of them were expected in the main house for a dressing since tonight the men of the family would return home and there'd be a party._

_He used his supernatural hearing and was surprised to hear crying. Without thinking much he ran to the source of the sound and found himself in front of Cecelia's bedroom door. He gently knocked on it. The crying stopped._

_The door was opened by Cecelia a few moments later, her face red from crying but as usual a. smile was on her._

_"Have you been looking for me?" she asked._

_Elijah, without thinking, took her face in his hands, his thumbs running over the soft skin of her cheeks._

_"Why have you been crying?" he asked, voice laced with concern. It pained him to see her sad._

_Celia's face fell._

_"I-" she began, looking down to her feet but Elijah tightened the grip around her face to make her look him in the eye._

_"You can tell me," Elijah said gently. He meant it._

_Cecelia pressed her lips into a thin line._

_"Why would you want to know. Why do you seem to care about me so much? So I can lead you to Katherine?" she demanded to know, her tone not making her emotions known._

_Now it was Elijah's turn to lose his face._

_How did she-_

_"Don't look so surprised," Celia said before scoffing._

_She swatted Elijah's hands away and quickly moved to her cupboard. She pulled out a stack of letters._

_"I've been crying because I miss my brothers. The ones that died a because of a girl. My eldest brother wrote to me about everything before his death," Celia said, throwing the letters onto her bed._

_"She played them both and fed on their blood because she was a mystical creature. I didn't believe him at first but then, all of the sudden, a Englishman appears in front of me. He is far too knowledgeable and rich for his young appearance. He can make people do as he wishes by staring into their eyes and disappears at strange hours,"_

_Celia looked Elijah up and down, making the man feel uncomfortable. He definitely hadn't expected this to happen._

_"The girl must have had people looking for her, that's why she was looking for shelter in my home. When searching for her they must've heard the name Salvatore and well, I'm the only direct relative left, aren't I?" she stated, her eyes glaring through the startled Original._

_Just how closely had she been watching him?_

_"I wasn't entirely sure until I just said her name. Your reaction gave it all away." she further explained._

_Elijah breathed in, regaining his composure._

_He'd have to lay all of his cards out. It's what she deserved._

_"You're right. I'm just like the girl that killed your brothers, a creature of the night," he admitted. Cecelia sucked in a harsh breath._

_"Katerina is what's called a Doppelgänger. I am of the Original vampire family. We're the first ever vampires to walk the earth. My troubled brother, the one I told you about, he is cursed. To break the curse he needs the Doppelgänger. There is a lot more to this story. I'd tell you… if you aren't scared? "_

_"I'm not afraid of you," she proclaimed, calmly, surprising Elijah._

_"You're not?"_

_This was very irritating. She knew that a vampire was the cause of her brothers death and that Elijah was one himself._

_"How could you not? I am a creature of night. To survive I have to drink blood. It's in my nature to kill, " he asked._

_There was a conflict inside of him. Part of him wanted to scare her, to save her from himself. Part of him wanted nothing but for her to love him back._

_"You can laugh at me for what I'm about to say next but I'm not afraid of you because, just as foolish as my brothers, I've been developing feelings, Elijah." she spoke, eyes determined as she strutted towards the vampire._

_"You've been.. feeling?" he asked, eyes widened. His heart began beating rapidly._

_"And I know you've been feeling too!" she continued, suddenly cupping his face._

_"You're smart. It couldn't have taken you this long to figure out that I don't know where she is. Why would you still stay? There is nothing here for you, no one to talk to. Only…me," she said, staring into his eyes as if she could see into his soul. Maybe she did._

_Finally she had addressed whatever elephant had been in the room whenever the two of them were alone. That electricity between them. His gaze went to her lips and back up to her eyes._

_Her hands were holding onto his face even tighter and her gaze also down went to the other's lips._

_"Elijah," she breathed out before looking back into his eyes._

_Her voice calling out his name took away every last bit of strength and he surged forward, pressing his lips onto hers. He kissed her desperately just like he had been wanting to for quite some time now. She kissed him back just as eagerly, sending his senses into overdrive._

_He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer, making her groan. The noise sounded like heaven to Elijah's ears and he acted on instinct when grabbed her by the thighs and smashed them into the nearest wall, her back protected by his hands._

_"I could do this for an eternity," Celia said in between kisses, her laugh breathy._

_Elijah grinned while kissing her neck up and down._

_"Don't tempt me," he spoke, making both of them laugh._

"OKAY THAT'S ENOUGH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH" Damon shouted, snapping everyone out of the illusion that Elijah had been giving them. 

Once Cecilia and Elijah had spotted each other they practically ran into each other's arms. For quite some time they just stood there, staring at each other in wonder. 

Later on she had greeted Klaus and Rebekah, who had finally decided to show up, with almost the same enthusiasm, confusing her wounded brothers. Elijah, who somehow had recovered from the initial shock pretty quickly, had invited the brothers and Caroline into their home. Their rivalry was declared as momentarily put down. The Original had given them the illusion so that they could make a picture for themselves. It may have gotten a little too graphic, causing Damon to snap them out of it. 

"That's something I never wanted to see," he said, shaking himself dramatically. 

"Disgusting, isn't it? For 15 years I had to endure their voyeurism almost daily. They really didn't care if I was there or no-" 

"Hold up," Caroline interrupted, pointing between him, Elijah and Cecelia.

"What do you mean for 15 years? Did you… live with them?" she asked. 

Stephan's head snapped to his sister, who was sitting beside him and holding his hand. She looked at him innocently like it was the most normal thing in the world. 

The three Originals on the other sofa also looked at each other, reminiscing older times. 

"It's best if you let Elijah show you the rest of it, I suppose," Rebekah spoke. 

Damon turned to look at Celia. 

"Can't you just tell us what happened?" he pleaded, afraid he had to see his sister making out with one of his enemies again. Celia laughed and agreed to it. 

"The affair Elijah and I began was dangerous. He pleaded me to go away with him but I wasn't quite ready to give myself away yet. Although I had nothing holding me in Italy and no reason to distrust Elijah, I just…. I couldn't. I was afraid that I was going to give my fate from the hands of one man into the ones of another one. I'd never be free. At least in Italy I was on my own most of the time, my husband always working," Celia started to explain, her eyes on Elijah while speaking. 

"After I turned I went to look for you. When I went to the town everyone told me he abused you?" Damon asked, forcing his sister to look away from Elijah. 

"He did when he was there. Per tradition man and wife have to stay together for at least three months after marriage. He despised the marriage as much as I did and basically spent the time after the ceremonyletting his anger out on me, physically and verbally. I barely survived,"

The mood in the room went down, everyone shifting uncomfortably in their seats. Even Klaus seemed affected, so Stephan noticed. 

"It became the talk of the town. Once he was free to get back to work in Florence again things started to get better. Then Elijah came in," she said, smiling as she looked at her past lover. 

"He saved me, emotionally. He was the only friend I had, the only one I felt safe with,"

She forced her eyes away from the Original to look at her brothers and Caroline again. 

"But our affair was noticed by my maids. They spread the message through town, unknown to me and Elijah. I had disgraced my in-laws and… let's just say they didn't take it well…" 

She moved her head to look at the Originals again and nodded. It was a sign for them to continue the story. 

"They tried to kill her," Elijah said, gaining everyone's attention. The guilt was clear in his voice. 

"One day the both of us were taking a walk in the fields. All of the sudden I heard a gunshot. I threw myself in front of Cecelia but it didn't matter, the bullet went through both of us," 

"Straight through my shoulder and stuck in Elijah's chest," Celia interrupted. 

Elijah nodded. 

"I, of course, quickly recovered. To save Cecilia I fed her my blood and then went after the culprit to kill him," the Original continued to explain. 

"In the meantime I went home to clean myself and wait for Elijah so we could flee. While I was in the tub my dear husband had come home to see if the job was done. Instead he found me and before I could even blink he had already come at me and pressed me into the water. Then… then I-... "

The words died in her throat and Elijah took over, yet instead of words he gave them another illusion. Damon groaned before closing his eyes. 

**1865**

_It was already dark when Elijah returned to the cottage he had called home for these past months. After tracking down the culprit he had realized that he was in need of more blood, having forgotten to have a controlled intake, so he took his time feeding before he'd finally leave with Cecelia._

_He was surprised that the inside of the cottage was empty and panic washed over him. He and Cecilia had planned on leaving together._

_Or had she decided otherwise?_

_Just as his thoughts were about to get the better of him he smelled it. The smell of blood.Tons of it, carried by the wind._

_It came from the main house that was a few yards away and he used his speed to get there. Even without his superhuman hearing he was able to make out several screams._

_The vampire stormed inside the mansion and found… a masacre._

_Bodies, of both Marinos and servants, were spread around the house, the floor being a pile of blood._

_He heard screaming from further inside the house. Then a loud cracking sound. Suddenly everything was silent._

_Using normal speed he stepped through the house, stepping over body and body, stopping only at a particular one. The eldest son, his love's husband, laid beneath Elijah's feet, his head seperated from the rest of his body. The eyes were missing._

_Elijah, although shocked, couldn't say it didn't serve him right._

_Suddenly he heard whimpering, close to that of a wounded animal. His eyes scanned the room and that's when he saw her. Celia, hidden in a corner._

_She had her knees close to her chest, her arms hugging her legs. Her hands and chin were full of blood. Elijah breathed out in shock._

_She was a vampire._

_He quickly surged forward, stopping at her level and kneeling down._

_"What happened?" he asked, eyes widened as he took in her appearance. She was wet and dressed in a white nightgown, most of it stained with blood._

_"He found me in the bathtub and just-... He just-... He killed me!" Celia explained, her hands pointing towards the body of her headless husband._

_"And I-... I woke up again and I-... I just wanted to confront him! But all of them… I-.. I had this unbearable hunger!"_

_Celia was hyperventilating, her eyes roaming around the room. She had never in her life seen such chaos, such brutality._

_And it was all her doing._

_Elijah decided that he needed to quickly take action. It would only be a matter of time until the townsfolk would show up._

_He used his speed to throw down every torch in the room. They quickly set fire to the curtains and he went to pick up Cecelia bridal style._

_With her in his arms he ran back to the cottage. Once inside, he ran up to the bathroom where the tub was still filled with water that has lost it's temperature. He placed the trembling Celia inside of it before taking his jacket off and joining her_. 

_The girl was shivering, clutching onto her legs for dear life, holding the same position she had inside the house. The water quickly changed its colour to red. They were bathing in the blood of her victims._

_"Love, you need to calm down," Elijah said, cupping her face while looking her in the eyes._

_"Am I like you now?" she asked, her teeth clashing against one another while she spoke. Elijah nodded before he took some water to wash her bloodied chin and neck_. 

"I _didn't ask for this. I didn't want this. No matter how much I thought about it, I didn't want-" Celia began, shaking her head while her eyes focused on Elijah's face._

_"I know, my love. I know. I'm so, so sorry, okay?" the Original said, pained. His hands were also shaking and he was barely keeping it together. He truly didn't want this to happen. He could never be so selfish to bring this curse upon another soul, especially if he loved them as much as he loved her._

_"Look at me, love," he spoke, grabbing the nape of her neck with one hand while the other held her one of her shoulders. He had to be strong for her._

_She complied, looking at him whilst shaking like a leaf in the wind. Elijah's heart broke even futher upon seeing how frightened she was._

_"We shall get through this together. I won't leave you unless you tell me to and promise to teach you the ways of my kind and protect you from any harm. I will protect you forever. I give you my word, Cecelia Salvatore."_

_Cecilia stopped shaking, only her fingers still trembling. She looked into the eyes of the man in front of her and nodded,clinging onto every word he said._

_Together, they would make this okay_. 

The illusion ended, everyone in the room blinking while they adjusted back to reality. 

"Wow…" Caroline, the hopeless romantic, breathed out, looking between Elijah and Celia.

Damon fixated on the Original too, mixed feelings visible on his face. On one hand he wanted to murder him and on the other he was… relieved. Relieved that there had been someone in this world that loved his sister after she had lost everything. 

"What happened then?" Caroline asked, seeming to be the only one in the room who was excited. Well, for her it was probably more like a bedtime story than actually tragic events. 

Klaus opened his mouth to continue but was interrupted by Cecilia who suddenly stood up. 

"Elijah, of course, kept his promise. We lived together for the following 50 years, Klaus and Rebekah joining us for the past 10 of them. I had no problem following them wherever they went cause I always had the choice to leave. Being a vampire gave me freedom for the first time in my life. No man could control me, " she declared, smile on her face. 

Stephan and Damon noticed that she radiated a confidence she never had before. During her time in Mystic Falls she was only proud of her looks but now he could tell it was something else. She had grown. She wasn't a impulsive teenager anymore but a woman that could stand her own. 

"I had rather enjoying finally having someone that's like a sister to me. The both of us wouldn't take anyone mans crap. It was a truly magical time," Rebekah spoke, glaring at every man in the room while she said so. Celia also smiled before speaking up again, 

"Now, before we come to my supposed death, I would be really grateful if someone could get me out of this stupid dress. It is dirtied with the blood of a history teacher as well as my own and obviously out of fashion," Celia stated, looking around the room and inspecting everyone's fashion. 

A brief silence followed, everyone staring at her. They just went through an emotional rollercoaster and now her only concern was her wardrobe. 

Klaus was the first one to react as he wholeheartedly laughed before standing up. 

"Oh, how I have missed having you around!" he exclaimed before hugging her. 

Damon, Stephan and Caroline were definitely surprised by the action but kept it to themselves. This day was just full of shocking revelations. 

Klaus ended the hug and smirked down at Celia, 

"Also, I'd gladly help you out of that thing, love" he spoke, making Celia laugh and Rebekah groan. Elijah rolled his eyes. 

"Glad to see that at least one thing didn't change over the past 100 years," Celia spoke, smile on her face as she touched Klaus cheek with one of her hands. Damon recognized it as something she'd do with him or Stephan and sucked in a harsh breath. What the fuck. 

The hybrid's smile seemed to falter a little bit at the intimate action,something Stephan was very intrigued by. What exactly was the relationship between Klaus and his sister? 

"Your sense of humor is still as frivolous as it used to be," Celia spoke softly before flashing the hybrid another, genuine smile. 

Suddenly Elijah stood between them, his hand around Cecelias waist.

"I'll help you," he whispered to her before turning the head to his brother, face as stoic as ever. 

"Please be so kind to inform the remaining Salvatores about the rest of the story," he spoke, eyeing the two brothers on the sofa. 

Klaus huffed, 

"Why should I? They tried to kill me a few moments ago. I should actually get back-" 

"Nicklaus," Elijah warned. The Hybrid looked between him and Celia and rolled his eyes. 

"Very well then, only alive Salvatores for tonight then," he garunteed. 

With that Elijah ran upstairs, Celia in his hold. 

Damon wanted to protest but Klaus had already sat down and looked to his sister. 

"How about you tell them, Rebekah? You know how wrong my memory can be," the Hybrid suggested, usual grin on his face. 

Rebekah sighed and leaned back into the sofa. This was gonna take a while. 

"Very well, then," she said, looking at the three unwanted guests. 

* * *

"Are you going to stare at me for the next 100 years to make up for the missed time?" Celia spoke, smirk gracing her face as she walked towards Elijah. She had just finished her shower (which she had described as an indoor waterfall) and was only dressed in a large, white towel. 

"Seems like a good plan," Elijah, who had been sitting by the edge of his bed, spoke smiling. Hiis previous drink was back in his hand. 

His room had a bathroom attached to it and while Celia had been showering his eyes had never left her, causing the young vampire to feel smug. 

"I've missed you. I don't know for how long I missed you but I did," she spoke, smiling as she stood before Elijah. 

The man just hummed and waited for her to get dressed in some of Rebekahs clothing, eventually helping her. 

Once she stood before him again, dressed in a skirt and simply shirt, the vampire rested his forehead against her stomach, his face hidden from her eyes. 

"Getting over the pain of losing you has been one of the hardest challenges in my long existence," he spoke, his hand coming to hold onto her leg. 

Celia suddenly sucked in a harsh breath before abruptly moving away from Elijah. The Original looked up to her, surprised. 

"What is it?" he asked. 

"You must've forgotten that I could see into your head, Elijah." the girl spoke, her previous smile exchanged with a stern expression. 

The vampire's face fell. He truly had. 

Elijah had a talent for giving someone illusions even when awake. Rebekah had a perfect sense for when someone is lying and Cecelia could, with some effort or if she had a close relationship with someone, have a look at their thoughts. 

"You don't intend on picking up where we left off. You plan on making this the last time that I'll ever see you," Cecelia spoke, hurt clear in her voice. 

Elijah sighed… and nodded

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The romance and chemistry between Elijah and Celia is so fucking epic


	6. Unveiled relations

"Okay, so. The four of you settled in some village in Spain. Cecelia secretly taught some girls how to read and the religious leaders found out and set fire to your house. Cecelia was the only one in it cause you three were out. When you came back you found her daylight ring in the ashes and assumed she was dead. Elijah turned off his humanity because he couldn't handle it and left you two. A decade later you met ripper Stephan in America and then sent Rebekah into a coffin for the next 90 years. Did I miss anything?"

Upon Caroline's summary of Rebekahs retail of their last years with the Salvatore sister, Klaus clapped his hands and whistled.

"Perfectly summarized, Love," he spoke, smiling. 

"When did he turn it back on?" Stephan asked, referring to Elijah's humanity. 

Klaus eyes twinkled and he leaned forward, staring into Stephan's eyes while he smirked. 

"He never did," he declared, smiling. 

Damon quickly jumped up. 

"Then what the hell is he doing with my sister up there?" he called out, gaze focused on the stairs.

* * *

"I don't understand. Why would you welcome me back with open arms? And this, just now?" Celia spoke, pointing towards the bed while looking into the eyes of the man she loved. Only was she unsure if he still loved her. It was a horrible feeling. 

"I wanted to reminisce the old times before I'd leave," he spoke, eyes focusing on her shoulder. He carefully took a strain of her wet hair and placed it over her shoulder. 

"Elijah, you swore an oath to me. I know it's been a century, but-" 

"The reason I want to leave you behind is that exact oath," Elijah said, interrupting her. Celia furrowed her brows. 

"I swore to protect you and I failed  _ miserably _ ," the Original said, his hands coming up to cup Celia's face. 

"I'm not talking about that one, Elijah. You couldn't have saved me from what happened. It was too unexpected!" she said, her hands grabbing his sides. 

"I'm talking about our wedding oath, my love," the female vampire spoke. 

"Don't you remember?  _ Even-"  _

_"Beyond death I will love you"_ Elijah finished, remembering the day. Their wedding day. 

Still, it meant nothing to him.

"Celia, all I feel when I look at you is shame," he stated, his thumbs caressing her cheeks. 

Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open.

"You turned it off, didn't you?" she declared, already knowing the answer. 

Elijah nodded and leaned his forehead against hers. 

"It was the only way to cope," he whispered. 

"But there is no need to anymore! I'm back, Elijah! We can be together again!" she said desperately as she grabbed his wrists. 

The glint of hopefulness in her eyes would have broken Elijah's heart if he still had one. 

"Do you remember what Klaus always used to say?" Elijah asked, his eyes closed as to not look at her. 

Celia's hope died down. The man in front of her wasn't the one she loved a century ago. It was foolish of her to think for even a second that things could be the same. 

" _ Caring makes you weak"  _ she recited, gulping as she looked into Elijah's eyes. 

"This isn't you, my love," she said, still trying. 

It was useless. 

Elijah moved his head slightly to kiss her forehead, one of his hands moving from her cheek to her nape. He then let go of her, stepping away and looking her in the face. 

"My humanity is gone and with that any romantic feelings I harboured for you. You're… a precious memory, I might say. I'm glad you're alive but that's it. I cannot allow the pain and misery I've felt when I believed you to be dead reach me ever again. I cannot allow to ever fail that badly again." 

And with that he left her, using his superhuman speed. Celia fell back, her back hitting a wall which she glided down. She clutched her chest tight, tears piling up in her eyes. 

After a short while Damon had found his way to her and he worriedly crouched next to her. 

"Are you okay? What did that asshat do?" he demanded to know, gripping his sisters arm. 

She didn't look at him and instead focused her gaze straight ahead. She didn't allow the tears that had been forming in her eyes to escape as she changed her expression from sadness to anger. Her eyebrows, a strong facial feature of hers, furrowed and she got up and ran downstairs. Damon was startled for a few seconds but quickly decided to follow her only to be found with a very  _ irritating  _ sight. 

His sister, the one he had last seen when she was a fragile, scared 16 year old was currently holding down the nape of no other than a  _ kneeling _ Klaus Michaelson, the most feared being in the world. 

Well, more like he was on his knees rather than kneeling, his hands held up in the air while Celia's grip forced him to look down. All of this in the middle of said Hybrid's foyer. 

"WHY DID YOU MAKE HIM TURN IT OFF?" his sister called out, tightening her grip on Klaus neck. 

Everyone in the room seemed shook and scared for Celia's safety. Everyone but a rather bored looking Rebekah who leaned against a doorframe watching everything happen. 

"He was a mess, okay? You should've seen him. I only told him what I always told him!" Klaus, who seemed rather amused than frightened, declared. 

"Don't give me the tough love now, Cecelia. You should focus that on Elijah if you want him back," he joked, laughing afterwards. Celia was not having it, huffing before she let go of him.

She turned around to look at Damon, who was still standing in the middle of staircase. 

"Take me home, please. I think I've had enough of this reunion," she spoke, her emotions hidden behind a surface. 

Damon simply nodded and jogged down the stairs while Caroline and Stephan also got ready to leave, obviously confused by the turn of events.

Celia used her super speed to quickly hug Rebekah before leaving. 

" _ Don't worry. A love like yours doesn't die that easily _ ," The female Original whispered into her friends ear while they hugged, making Celia smile slightly. 

"I won't give up that easily," Celia spoke before letting go of her. She took Damon's hand and left the house of the Originals alongside her brothers and her new friend. 

For now, she'd focus on them. Her brothers. 

She'd hide her heartbreak and when the time was ready she'd make Elijah break out of his cage. 

Because Rebekah was right. 

A love like theirs doesn't die. Not even after a century of longing. 

* * *

**1 month later**

Elena had enough. Damon and Stephan were clearly hiding things from her and so was Bonnie. The three of them only had one thing in common and that was their united desire to kill Klaus, a desire Elena shared. Why wouldn't they let her take part in their plans? 

Today she had decided to confront Damon about it. 

She had just parked her car in the driveway of the Salvatores when all of the sudden something similar to an explosion could be heard.Elena shrieked in her car, holding her hands in front of her face per instinct. Once the sound had passed she dared to look up only to see something very irritating. 

The front door of the boarding house was laying in the middle of the awn and Damon was on top of it. 

"Oh my god," Elena exclaimed, quickly unbuckling her seatbelt and running towards the vampire. 

"Damon, what-" she began to exclaim as she almost reached him but something extremely fast had passed by her. 

It was Cecelia.

Elena noted in shock that the female vampire was currently sitting on top of her brother, a stake in her hand. 

Just as she wanted to stab her brother with it Elena screamed out "STOP" causing the vampire to halt. 

Damon groaned, arching his back before he waved at Elena,gesturing her to leave. 

"I don't think now is a good time for you to be here, Elena," he gritted. 

"What is going on?" Elena asked, looking between the two siblings. 

Despite what she heard about Elijah leaving, everything else had gone peacefully since Celia arrived. She had spent a lot of time with her brothers, telling them about the life she had after they thought she had died and vice versa. 

The girl was definitely was definitely a Salvatore. She was sarcastic, charming and impulsive but she possessed more compassion than her two brothers combined (especially since Stephan was on his non humanity trip). Elena liked her a lot, especially after her visit.

**3 weeks ago**

_ It was odd to have Celia in her home, to say the least. She was not only a Salvatore but had also killed Alaric and was obviously from another time. From her posture to her way of speaking, everything about her screamed out of the ordinary. The only things that Elena knew about her were from her brothers and those information were quite… outdated. _

_ It was sweet of her to bring flowers though. Elena knew she could trust her, or at least hoped so, so she had invited her in. The look on Alarics face when he got the gigantic bouquet as an apology for being killed was worth the potential risk. Elena showed her around the house since it was far more modern than the boarding house of the Salvatores and Celia seemed genuinely interested. She then spent about 4 hours with Alaric in the living room who gave her a summary of the last century. Elena was also present, drinking coffee while listening to what would undoubtedly get her an A on their next report.  _

_ Without anyone really noticing it had turned dark and Celia excused herself to leave. Elena went outside with her, stopping on the porch to see her off. That's when the female vampire had grabbed her wrist and looked her deeply into the eyes.  _

_ "I had meant to talk to you alone, Elena," she had announced. Elena got nervous. She knew what this was about. Her relationship with Damon and Stephan. The "I'll kill you if you hurt my brothers" discussion.  _

_ She mentally prepared herself for the threat that was undoubtedly about to come, holding her breath as she met the other girls gaze.  _

_ "Please, be careful," Celia said, gently.  _

_ Elena furrowed her brows but Celia continued before she could voice her confusion.  _

_ "Not only the blood of the Doppelgänger is magical, Elena. You're surrounded by a charm that makes people love you, want to protect you. Katerina is the best example. Even with her rotten morals people still fell for her. People die for the Doppelgänger, Elena. They have been for a centuries, " she declared.  _

_ Elena gulped. One thing all Salvatores seemed to have in common was their strong eyes.  _

_ Her thoughts switched to Damon upon seeing Celia. Both of them had a way of getting under your skin with just their gaze.  _

_ Celia smiled sadly, _

_ "I see you're thinking about Damon," she declared, making Elena's eyes widen.  _

_ "How-" she began but stopped when she saw Celia shaking her head, smiling.  _

_ "A vampire thing," she just said.  _

_ "I don't judge you for being torn, Elena. I'm the last person to do so," she said, almost whispering as she looked down to her hands. She was still holding onto the Doppelgängers wrists.  _

_ Elena was irritated for a second but then she realised. Her mouth fell open.  _

_ "Elijah…. and Klaus? she asked, disbelief clear in her voice.  _

_ Celia smiled but still didn't look up to her.  _

_ "A long time ago. My heart was always in the same spot but there were… " _

_ She looked up to meet Elena's eyes, her gaze going right through the human girl.  _

_ "Moments were I was about to get swayed, you could say,"  _

_ Elenas eyes widened even further and she escaped Celia's grasp to sit down by the bank on her porch.  _

_ "Wow…" she exclaimed in shock.  _

_ Damon had told her about Celia's epic love with Elijah, which had already been a strange thought.. but Klaus?  _

_ "I'm telling you this so that you know that I don't hate you. I know how hard it is to be suited by those you love in very different ways. I know how hard it can be to not break hearts," she declared.  _

_ Elena could do nothing but sigh. Sigh in relief. She had never meet someone that was so free of judgement whenever the topic was her relationship with the Salvatore brothers. She nodded to let Celia know that what she described was the exact way Elena had been feeling _

_ "My brothers love you and I want us to get along," Celia spoke softly before sitting down next to Elena.  _

_ Elena looked at the vampire next to her and sighed.  _

_ "You Salvatores know how to get under ones skins, don't you?" she asked rhetorically.  _

_ Celia laughed and Elena eventually joined her. The vampire had that kind of laugh that was contagious.  _

_ "It's the Italian temperamento we carry. Also the strong eyebrows," the vampire declared, wiggling her eyebrows and making both of them laugh futher in the process.  _

_ "Why were you telling me to be careful?" Elena asked, filling the comfortable silence that had eventually stretched out between them after a while.  _

_ "Like I said, people die for the Doppelgänger and eventually, so do they. Handling loss is a burden they have to carry for being a magical creature. It's their curse,"  _

_ Elena's eyes widened. Celia was right. Vampires had the sun and the bloodlust. Werewolfs the moon. Witches would always be soldiers of the supernatural war between the two species.  _

_ And Elena was a magical creature herself, no matter how human she felt.  _

_ A great sadness overcame her. So that was her curse. Having to see everyone she loved die for her.  _

_ "Be careful about your choices. Don't upset the ones that have their fate in your hand," Celia spoke, ripping Elena out of her thoughts.  _

_ "You mean Klaus?" Elena asked, looking back to Cecelia who nodded.  _

_ "Nicklaus is quite like my brother Damon, haven't you noticed?"  _

_ Elena's eyebrows rose to her hairline. _

_ Damon and Kl _ _ aus?  _

_ Just as they spoke about the devil, Damon's black car pulled up in front of the Gilbert house, undoubtedly to pick up his sister.  _

_ "They're both cruel yet fair in their own way. They don't get angry-"  _

_ "They just get even," Elena breathed out, recalling something Stephan had told her a long time ago.  _

_ She watched as Damon got out of his car and walked up to them with a smile on his face.  _

_ He ignored Elena to greet his sister first, engulf her in a hug. After he said his hello to Elena he began softly talking to his sister in Italian while making their way back to his car.  _

_ The Doppelgänger shook her head and smiled upon the sight in front of her.  _

_ Damon wasn't like Klaus.  _

_ He was better.  _

  
  


Elena was utterly irritated. Why would the sweet vampire go against her brother? She didn't seem like the type to be able to physically hurt her family? 

"What is going on?" she asked again, looking down at the siblings.

"I let her read my diaries," Stephan, who had showed up by Elena's side, suddenly declared. The girl jumped in place, startled. 

"And?" she just asked, not getting the connection between that and Celia seemingly kicking Damon through the door. 

"When filling me up about what happened the last century Damon failed to inform me about his mission to torture our brother!" Celia called out, clearly upset. 

Elena pressed her lips into a line. She couldn't really say anything against that. 

"How could you let him become a Ripper, brother? You're the one that practically raised him!" Celia continued to exclaim, her eyes back on Damon. 

"I was upset about Katherine. You know how as a vampire everything gets heightened. For me it was my jealousy, okay?" Damon said before abruptly changing their position, him now being the one to pin down his sister. Elena noted in fear that he seemed to be angry. 

A angry Damon is never a good Damon.

"Don't judge me for the past. It's not like you're so innocent, slutting it up with two Originals!" he exclaimed, shocking everyone. 

"What do you mean?" Stephan asked, moving forward. Ever since turning off his humanity his only life purpose has been destroying Klaus. Every information he got of the man was valuable. 

Celia looked up to her brother with furrowed brows. How-

"Don't think I didn't hear your little conversation with Elena, sister. You had both wrapped around your fingers, didn't you? Only loved Elijah but had Klaus right by your side, playing him," 

"You're not talking to Katherine, Damon!" Elena said while stepping forward. She knew better than to get between them but she had to do _something_. 

"She only loved Elijah!" Elena continued. 

"Oh, that so? Then who have you been seeing whenever you sneak out, huh?" Damon suddenly revealed, making his sister's eyes widen. 

Her expression changed from shock to anger though and she moved her knee up to kick Damon off her. She used her speed to grab the stake she had been holding before Damon pinned her down and used it to drive it through her brothers shoulder. 

Elena screamed out in shock and even Stephan seemed fairly surprised. Damon, who had already been on his knees, groaned and glared up at his sister. 

"Listen very well, brother," Celia spoke, taking the stake out of Damon's shoulder before placing it inside his stomach with as much force as possible,causing Damon to groan out in pain again. 

"I've lived with the Michealsons for 15 years. With or without Elijah, they're as much my family as you and Stephan are. Unlike you, family means something to me," she spoke, her anger not hidden in her tone while she was glaring at Damon. She twisted the stake that was stuck inside of Damon around, making the Vampire close to passing out. If it wasn't for Celias one arm holding him up by his unwounded shoulder he would've already fallen to the ground. 

Elena was watching the entire scene unfold with her hands in front of her opened mouth, her eyes blown wide. Stephan was nowhere to be seen. He must've run back to the house to get Damon blood, so Elena thought. 

"You tortured our brother for almost two centuries after preaching your entire human existence that family is the most important thing. You accuse me of horrendous things without any real knowledge behind it. I don't know who you are but you are not my brother!" Celia exclaimed before finally taking the stake out of him and turning around to face Elena. Damon fell to ground face flat but turned to lay on his back with a lot of effort, coughing up some blood in the process. 

"I'm sorry you had to see this. But this," she began, anger visible on her face as she pointed at her brother, 

"Is the curse of the Doppelgänger. Look what it did to my brothers," Celia spoke, chest heaving up and down.

She was wearing a [tight black dress](https://images.app.goo.gl/nFurJtxTPwdxFfov6), a piece Elena recognized from when she and Caroline had taken Cecilia shopping. Caroline had given her a lot of dresses, saying that in Mystic Falls you could never have a shortage of them. Damon had almost had a heart attack upon seeing 'the slutiest dress on earth' but that had just motivated Celia to want them even more. Elena remembered how the two siblings had fought about it, reminding her of herself with Jeremy. 

And now this. Damon on the ground, stabbed, and Celia with his blood all over her exposed legs and arms. 

The doppelganger shook her head.

"You're just saying this out of anger!" she told Celia, hoping the female vampire would calm down. 

Elena must've hit some nerve as her angry expression changed for a second. She seemed sad now. 

"My brother's wouldn't have hated each other after death. They're not my brothers!" she exclaimed, shaking her head while she head tears in her eyes. 

Suddenly Celia was turned around by a hand grabbing her shoulders. It was Stephan. 

"Look at me, sister" he spoke, still holding onto her shoulders.

"Everything is wrong. You were the reasonable one! Damon was the caring one! Now you're both at each other's throats!" she exclaimed, looking between her brothers. 

Stephan moved his up to cup his sisters cheek. Elena had an unwell feeling about this. Non-humanity Stephan wasn't this caring. 

The vampire cocked his head to the side, his thumbs gliding over his sisters cheek. 

"You got it all wrong. We're not each other's enemy anymore," he spoke gently. 

Celia seemed to calm down, looking deeply into her brothers eyes. 

Stephan suddenly changed his expression. 

From the Stephan that Elena used to know to the Stephan he was now. The monster. 

"But do you know who is?" he spoke, his hand abruptly changing its position from Celia's cheek to her nape, holding her in place. 

"Klaus." Stephan said, voice full of spite. 

The next thing Elena heard was a gunshot, followed by a gasp from Cecilia. 

"STEPHAN!" Elena called out in disbelief. 

He had just shot his sister with on of Alarics guns, the ones that entailed wooden bullets.

Cecelia clutched her stomach and looked from her bleeding wound to the face of her brother, shock written all over he face. 

Suddenly Stephan was pulled away from Cecelia by Damon. 

"What's wrong with you?" he asked his brother, holding him by the collar. 

"If Klaus has feelings for her we can use her. I'm just about to find that out," he said, void of emotion before he punched Damon, causing the already wounded vampire to go to the ground. 

Stephan ran towards his sister and grabbed her by her arm. 

"Time to see if she's useful!" he declared, taking his gun and shooting into Celia's leg, making her scream out in pain. She would have fallen to the ground if it wasn't for Stephan tight grip around her.

"You've gone insane!" Elena said to Stephan as she made her way to Damon to help him up. 

"I'm the only one doing  _ anything  _ around here to get Klaus off our backs!" the vampire spoke, his grip tightening onto his sister, making her groan in pain. 

Shortly after he took off, his sister with him. 

Elena looked at Damon, fear in her eyes. 

"What's he gonna do?" she asked Damon as both of them walked inside the house, the vampires arm slung around her shoulder as she tried to carry most of his weight. 

"Get some blood in me and we'll go find out," Damon said through his teeth while holding his stomach. In moments like these he really hated being the older brother. 

"Maybe we should…warn Klaus?" Elena said as she helped Damon get down on the sofa. 

The vampire raised his eyebrows and loudly voiced his confusion by screaming a rather high-pitched "WHAT" which made Elena roll her eyes. 

"If we warn him he'll think it's just Stephan acting out. We can say that it's on him since he made Stephan turn his humanity off and maybe then Klaus won't go on a killing spree," the young girl declared while she handed Damon a glass of Bourbon, knowing it was injected with blood. 

"Fine, whatever" Damon spoke before he gulped down the Bourbon in one go. He really didn't care as long as he recovered quickly enough to get Stephan away from his suicide mission. 

He then took out his phone and handed it to Elena. She quickly found Klaus number and dialed, mentally preparing herself to bring bad news to a psychopath. Maybe this wasn't the best idea after all. 

**"You dialing this number at this hour cannot possibly bear any good news so what is it?"**

It wasn't Klaus voice. Elena gasped, alarming Damon who sat up and grabbed her shoulder. 

"What is it?" he asked, his eyes on the phone as if something would jump out of it. 

Elena looked at him, her brows furrowed before she spoke up again. 

"Is that you, Elijah _?" _ she asked while looking at Damon whose expression immediately darkened. 

" **Ah,it's you Elena. You guessed right, it is me. Now, how can I help you?"**

Before the doppelganger could even speak up the phone in her hand had already been grabbed by Damon. 

"Stephan is gonna come over to Klaus mansion with my sister. If you're there then  _ leave.  _ I don't want your stupid face anywhere  _ near  _ her, especially right now, got that? " he spat into the phone, glaring ahead of him as if Elijah was right there. 

A brief silence followed before Elijah spoke up again, 

**" 'Especially right now'? "** he asked. Elena quickly took the phone before Damon could throw any more curses at an Original that could kill them all. 

"Stephan wants to test Klaus. He's taken Cecelia and harmed her. He wants to see Klaus reaction," Elena explained ignoring the protesting Damon next to her. 

A brief silence followed. Just as Elena began to think the Original had already hun up he spoke up again, 

**"Your warning is appreciated."** he said curtly before finally hanging up, leaving Elena to cluelessly look at Damon. 

"He just…" she said, bewildered while handing Damon his phone. The vampire, still glaring at something that wasn't there, stood up, grabbing a blood bag on his way to the front yard. 

Elena ran after him, asking what his plan was. The vampire stopped in his tracks but didn't turn to look at her. He let the emptied blood bag fall to the ground before he turned around to look at the young girl. 

"What I always do. I get my little siblings out of their mess," he said before taking off with his vampire speed, leaving Elena at the front of the Salvatore house. 

She decided that Celia had been wrong earlier. It seemed like their dynamics were still the same after 150 years. 


	7. It always fights it's way back in

_**1901** _

_It's been almost 20 years since Klaus has last seen his brother, Elijah. It wasn't like the Original was clingy…he just needed to be in control. Especially in regards to his siblings. Especially because Michael is out there, ready to kill them all._

_He and Elijah had been living together until Klaus had told his brother to find the sister of the family where Katerina had last stayed. It was a fruitless mission, so Elijah had reported. He had told he'd stay in Europe for the next few years, trying to find her. Well, Klaus certainly hadn't expected "the next few years" to become "the next few decades". Although both of them wrote letters where Elijah assured him everything was fine Klaus got suspicious. During his last visit two decades ago he had asked Elijah to join him in America again. At first Klaus hadn't thought much about why he declined but now he knew, thanks to some compelled spies he sent out._

_His sentimental fool of a brother was playing house with some girl._

_Really, Klaus should've seen it coming. His brother, although he always pretended to be the controlled one, was nothing but a caring mess._

_Klaus would have to get him out of it because caring is what makes you weak and Elijah can't be weak, not with Michael on the run. None of them could._

_So here he was, in the middle of Paris, in front of a house just posh enough to fit his brother's taste. The maid that opened him the door had bite marks on her wrist and he immediately knew he was at the right place. It didn't take long to compell her and get invited in. Klaus assumed she was probably the house owner, compelled to play maid for his brother and his little secret._

_That would bring him to his next step, find out just who Elijah's newest love was. All his spies could find out was the location of his brother as well as his alibi, "An English Earl living with his beauty of a wife in Paris while playing part in the high society, far away from the political climate"_

_"Sir Elijah will be extremely upset when he finds out I let a stranger enter. Why did I do that?" the maid asked herself as she walked Klaus through the entryway of the house and into the oval shaped Salon._

_"I take it as he's not home?" Klaus asked her, charming smile on his face as he ignored the clear confusion on the woman._

_"Neither him nor the Misses are here, Sir. They'll be arriving separately as both had planned different activities for today, though their arrival will still be shortly after one another,"_

_Klaus nodded and looked around the room for a while, his hands behind his back. Suddenly he stopped in his tracks, his eyes widening slightly. There, along with many other pieces, hung one of Klaus paintings. His eyes wandered around the room and the more he looked the more he recognized the paintings. Most of them were his. Paintings he had drawn ages ago and had left in the places where he had created them. Places where he and Elijah had stayed._

_"Are you admiring the art of the house?" the maid asked, snapping Klaus out of his astonishment._

_"Did Elijah hang all these up?" he asked, genuinely curious. His brother was a sentimental fool but that was new._

_The maid smiled brightly before speaking up again,_

_"The lady of the house made Sir Elijah hang of all of these up, my lord. She told me they're from the places they've visited before settling here. I don't know why I'm telling you this, though," the maid spoke._

_Usually Klaus would've laughed and told her it's because he told her to only speak the truth after she had invited him in but he was too astonished. He hadn't met a lot of private people who admired his art. They usually admired him and his art along with him._

_"Tell me everything you know about Elijah's love, will you? Maybe if you speak of her highly enough I'll think again about killing her," Klaus spoke as he turned around to face the maid, smile on his face. You couldn't say the same thing about the maid though as she seemed completely shell-shocked upon Klaus threat._

_"Oh, no no," Klaus said, shaking his head as he used his speed to be infront of the woman again. He held her by her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes as he told her to not be afraid._

_Of course she complied and began speaking._

_"Sir Elijah met the lady of the house a long time ago in Italy. He was there on business and stayed with the family he was working with. All I know is that the Misses was a part of that family but not anymore. It was a bad family, so she told me. Treated her poorly, Sir,"_

_Klaus scoffed. It's just like his brother to fall for the ones that can't protect themselves._

_"Continue, love," Klaus said as he took a strand of her hair and placed his behind her shoulder, revealing some naked skin._

_"They've lived in far too many places to remember them all, Sir. Both of them aren't like you and I. They aren't creatures with a soul and although I wanna tell you more, I can't," she spoke._

_Ah, so his brother compelled her to shut up about the vampire topic. Well, at least he hadn't lost all of his senses._

_"Do you know when they met?" he asked._

_He felt like the solution to his answer was close, just before his eyes. He was just too blind to see it yet._

_"All I know is that they met in Italy a long time ago. I think there is a photograph with a time stamp that can't be right unless they didn't age a day, Sir"_

_Klaus smiled devilishly and nodded._

_"Well, here is what is gonna happen. You're going to show me this photograph, tell me everything you know and then I will kill you and everyone else in this house to punish my brother for lying to me, okay, love?"_

_The maid smiled and nodded as happily as if she had won something._

_"I'll take you upstairs, Sir" she spoke before leaving the room, expecting Klaus to follow her._

_The vampire smirked. He was in control._

* * *

_Elijah would lie if he hadn't expected something like this to happen one day or another. Still, coming home to find your entire staff dead around your house and your brother sitting in the salon like he owned everything and everyone… surprised him._

_Upon his entry Klaus, dressed in a white button up that was covered in blood, smiled at him and raised his hands as to demonstrate what he created._

_"Nice to see you again, brother!" the Original said, eyes fixed on Elijah that wouldn't let any emotion show on his fave. He knew better than to expose to his brother what bothered him and what didn't._

_"You couldn't have cleaned up after yourself?" he spoke, sighing as he took a tissue out of his suit jacket. He stepped over two dead bodies before he reached Klaus, standing infront of him while handing him the tissue. Klaus took it and shrugged as to answer the other's question. Elijah sat on a chair that was next to his brother's._

_"I don't recall sharing my location in one of my letters. How did you find me this time? Witches again?" Elijah asked, making casual small talk while ignoring the corpses._

_"Compelled vampires. I was in no rush," Klaus explained while cleaning himself up._

_"What brings you here, brother?" Elijah then asked, cutting right to the chase._

_Instead of answering Klaus stood up and looked around the room. He pointed at the biggest painting on the wall that just so happened to be one of his own._

_"Maybe I just wanted to reclaim my art," he spoke, smirking. Elijah clenched his jaw and Klaus knew he was getting closer._

_"Didn't take you for the sentimental kind. But well, if all the rumours I've heard about you are true then it seems like I simply don't know you," Klaus spoke as he wandered around the room, ignoring the dead bodies and Elijah while looking at the art on the ceiling._

_Elijah stayed silent. Both of them knew that Klaus had the upper hand. For Elijah it was just a matter of time until his brother finally told him what he wanted to do with his newly gained information._

_Klaus suddenly stood still and took something off a cupboard he was standing infront of. He held it up and Elijah felt his heart drop to his stomach. He really should've expected this._

_Klaus was holding up a photo of him and a Celia. Both of them in a middle of field and it looked like Elijah was explaining something to her, both of them looking wherever the vampire was pointing to. It must've been windy since one of her hands held onto her hat and her skirt was flowing in the wind. In the corner of the picture a year was written. 1865._

_"Yet how could I truly know you if you fail to inform me of such important life events of yours for almost four decades, brother" the vampire said as he finally turned around to face his brother._

_Elijah sighed and got up, fixing his jacket in the process._

_"What is it that you want to do now with this information, Nicklaus?" he asked, fixating his gaze on his brother._

_"Well, at first I was really, really angry at you, brother" Klaus said as she slowly stepped towards Elijah._

_"I can see that," Elijah stated dryly, his gaze going down to the dead bodies by their feet._

_"But then I found this," Klaus said, ignoring the other Originals remark._

_He held up another picture. It was a portrait of Celia from her shoulders up._

_"I'm sure that due to the lack of color this picture doesn't do her true beauty justice although it's already stunning by itself, I might say," Klaus said._

_The corner of Elijahs mouth twitched. This was a whole new turn of events he wasn't prepared for._

_"Seeing our shared history with the other gender I suppose it's only natural that you hid this gem from me for so long. Even the maid she feeds on only spoke highly of her even when suggested to only tell the truth,"_

_After Klaus was done he looked from the picture into his brother's eyes. He smirked, knowing he hit a sensitive spot. Elijah's eyes were formed into slits and both of them knew it was only a matter of time until one of them would attack the other one._

_"Be wise with your words, Nicklaus," Elijah exclaimed, his jaw clenching._

_The Original laughed wholeheartedly,_

_"Or what? You're going to kill me?" he asked as he laughed._

_Suddenly Elijah smirked, making Klaus smile falter a little bit._

_"No, but she will," he spoke before using his speed to grab his brother by the shoulders and turn him around. Before Klaus could even blink he felt a throbbing pain inside his stomach and he looked down to find a knife inside of him. His eyes looked up from the hand that was holding the knife only to be met with the woman of the house. Cecelia Salvatore._

_"Has anyone ever told you that you have horrible manners for a guest?" she asked, referring to her dead staff. She cocked her head to the side, devilish smirk on her face as she glared at Klaus while putting the knife even deeper inside the Original_.

"Why are you giving me this illusion, brother?" Klaus asked, turning around to find Elijah standing in his foyer. The Hybrid had peacefully been drinking his scotch and looking out of the window of his mansion when suddenly this memory came over him. He immediately suspected Elijah. 

When his brother didn't answer Klaus sighed and put his drink down. 

"And you claim me to be the one for dramatic entrances. Finally returned from your exile, then? I'm sure your wife will be more than pleased," Klaus declared as he walked towards his brother, usual smirk on his face. 

Elijah scoffed and put one of his hands into a pocket of his trousers as he glared at his brother. 

"I'm sure you're far from pleased now that you can't have your little meet ups with her anymore. I gave you the memory to show you that I've learned to copy some of your little tricks. It's not hard to compell your Hybrids and make them tell me what's going on, you know?" the Original spoke, smirking. 

Klaus raised his eyebrows in surprise,

"And here I thought you didn't care enough to spy on what either one of us are doing," he remarked sarcastically, wiping the smirk right off of Elijah's face. 

"You know very well that I will _always_ care," he stated. It wasn't a declaration of love for Cecelia but more a threat for Klaus. 

"You should tell her that. She's been voluntarily meeting up with me to enjoy the pleasures of alcohol. I think her exact words were ' _it makes your forget what dickhead of a husband you have_ '. Clearly her eldest brother has been helping her adapt to the language of this century," Klaus stated, smirking as he saw how pissed off Elijah got at the thought of them alone. 

"Don't torture him like this, Nick. Me and Kole have also been present whenever she was over," Rebekah, who suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs, stated. 

Klaus pouted slightly, 

"You always gotta ruin my fun, Beka" he stated sadly. 

"If you care so much Elijah then why go away and leave her in the hands of our brother? It's not like he has any morals," Rebekah asked as she walked down the stairs, gaze on Klaus as she teased him. The hybrid clutched his chest to pretend he was hurt and Elijah just clenched his jaw. 

"I'm not deserving of her after I failed to protect her. Pretending to be entirely void of emotion was the easiest way to make her distance herself from me and technically not a lie. I did turn it off and don't feel as strongly anymore as I once did. Doesn't mean I don't feel at all though," the Original explained, eyes focused on Klaus although he was technically talking to Rebekah. 

"Ah yes, the baeuty of the humanity switch. It always fights its way back in. No matter how void you are, some emotions eventually find their way back in," Klaus stated. 

"Since we're talking about no humanity," Elijah began before suddenly coming forward and grabbing Klaus by the throat, choking the Hybrid.

"The Salvatore brother you made turn off his humanity is currently on his way to use my wife as a bait for you. Are you sure your little meet-ups were as innocent as you claim to be?" he demanded to know as he kept on choking his brother. 

"Elijah stop!" Rebekah called out as she got in between the two, seperating them. 

"We know that Klaus wouldn't mind such thing but do you truly think that Celia is capable of something like that? She's been nothing but hurt ever since you're gone. Her brothers aren't of any help so what else do you expect from her other than to come here to cry her eyes out, huh?" Rebekah asked, almost shouting in the process as she glared at her brother. 

Elijah pressed his lips into a thin line and stayed silent. 

"Now that we've cleared how highly all of you think of me can we move on to the fact that I think a certain Salvatore and his sister just entered our driveway?" Klaus declared, pointing towards the front door. 

Elijah stilled for a second, eyes focused on the door as if what's behind it could kill him. Then his expression went blank and he looked at his siblings. 

"You deal with this. After all it's a trap for you," he said, almost bored, before leaving. 

Rebekah looked after him in shock and then turned to Klaus as to wait for an explanation for their brothers behavior. 

Klaus scoffed before he shook his head, 

"And there goes the switch again. How troublesome but well, one emotionally messed up vampire at the time," he spoke before using his speed to step outside his house, his sister following him. 

* * *

The two Originals gasped at the sight in front of them. Stephan was holding onto a bloody Celia, the female vampire close to passing out if it wasn't for the painful grip that her brother had around her arm. 

"A little birdie told me you care for my sister a little more than you should, Klaus" Stephan decalred, voice raised so that they could hear him across the driveway. 

Rebekah gave Klaus a side eye that he willingly ignored. Instead the Original scoffed, his usual carefree demeanour back. 

"If your sister told you that than something must've gotten to her head. Maybe the lacking affection from my brother," he said, laughing as he casually took a few steps towards them. 

Under her breath Celia laughed slightly, her head rolling around before it went slack and she looked to the ground, 

" _Oh fuck off,_ " she mumbled, still laughing although it sounded like it was hard to do so for her. 

Klaus smiled upon hearing her curse. This girl really was something. 

The Hybrid quickly learned to regret his instant reaction to the female vampire as Stephan smirked upon watching the interaction. He jerked his sister closer him and held the gun against her back. 

"Then I'm sure you won't mind if I shoot her to death?" he said triumphly, eyes focused on Klaus. 

The Hybrid started to get pissed off. Who was Stephan to think he could win in a power battle. 

"What is it you want to achieve with this, Stephan? It's not like you're able to kill her. You've had thousands of chances to kill your brother whose harmed you far more than she ever did. The only one you're playing is yourself!" the Hyrbid declared, glaring at the young vampire. 

Stephan noticed how he still hadn't moved from his spot though and smirked. He had the upper hand, otherwise Klaus would've already attacked him. 

"Get your Hybrids out of Mystic Falls or say goodbye to her," he spoke confidently, his gun sticking into Celias back, making her groan in pain. 

" _Stefano this isn't you,_ " she whispered desperately as she tried to move her head to look at her brother. 

Stephan turned to look from her to Klaus, whose gaze was focused on Celia. 

"Klaus is right. I won't be able to kill you. Doesn't mean I can't play with your life," he said as pulled her infront of him, serving as a shield against Klaus. 

"If I shoot this certain spot it only takes one wrong move and the wooden bullet will make it's way to her heart!" Stephan threatened, eyes focused on Klaus like he was a maniac. 

"Oh _please_ ," a voice suddenly said. A very sarcastic voice. 

All vampires, despite Celia, turned to looked at Damon who was casually approaching his siblings. 

"Klaus is right, you can't hurt her. Even in your darkest moment you couldn't let me die, brother. Stop pretending. We'll get that scumbag some other way," Damom declared as he kept walking towards his brother with raised hands. Klaus gritted his teeth at the rudeness of the eldest Salvatore but stayed silent, watching the interaction between them. 

Stephan looked between Klaus and Damon and...snapped. 

"DON'T ACT LIKE YOU CAN CONVERT ME! I WANT HIS HYBRIDS GONE OR ELSE-" 

"MY HYBRIDS WILL STAY WHERE THEY ARE!" Klaus shouted, his eyes turning golden as he revealed his fangs. 

Stephan screamed out in rage and began shooting into his sister. One shot in her leg, one shot in her shoulder and one shot in her back. The fatal shot. 

While Celia sunk to the ground multiple things happened. Stephan was suddenly pulled away and held up by his throat by none other than Elijah. Damon ran forward, ready to attack Elijah cause from the Originals expression he definitely wouldn't spare his brother. Rebekah screamed out in shock before running towards Celia, Klaus following her. 

Rebekah rolled her friend on her back and was faced with the Salvatore sister coughing up a lot of blood. 

Klaus was crouching next to Rebekah, worriedly looking over Celia. 

Damon and Elijah were both trying to get a hold of Stephan when finally they were able to, each one of them holding Stephan by one of his arms. 

Then suddenly Rebekah screamed out in shock and all eyes went to her, Elijah and Damon frozem in their position with Stephan. 

All eyes widened as Celia suddenly gasped, arching her back up before suddenly going slack. Her body slowly started to turn grey. 

Damon and Stephan watched in shock what happened, not moving whilst Elijah next to them sunk to the ground. 

"NO!" Klaus suddenly shouted before he abruptly he pushed Rebekah out of the way. The Hyrbid stretched his arm out, reaching inside the Celias chest. The sound of her ribcage breaking due to the force of Klaus action was the last sound that could be heard before Elijah screamed out in agony as the grey almost reached Cecelias face. 

Then, suddenly, Klaus pulled his arm back with as much force as he previously sunk it into Celias insides. He held up a single wooden bullet in his bloldied hand, his eyes focused on the girl under him just like everyone else. 

Stephan sunk to his knees as he watched how the grey slowly faded from his sisters form. The bullet had only punctured her heart but Klaus had gotten it out in time. 

* * *

Celia swore that in her long existence she had never felt this sore before. She had also never felt this dirty. 

The vampire blinked as she got used to the light in the room. It took her a while to adjust and finally noticed that she was A) in a bed, B) covered in her own blood and ripped dress and lastly C) not alone. 

She turned her head, groaning as she did so, and was faced with Klaus. The Original laid next to her and greeted her with his usual smirk. 

"Welcome from the baeuty sleep. Not that you need it," he said flirtatiously. 

Celia groaned and rolled her eyes, 

"I don't feel particularly pretty at the moment but thank you," she spoke, her hand waving down to her bloodied form. 

"You're welcome, Love." Klaus spoke, smiling, as he looked into her eyes. 

The two shared a brief moment of silence as they just looked into each other's eyes. 

"What happened after Stephan shot me?" Celia whispered, breaking the silence. She didn't know why she was whispering. The moment just felt intimate, as if talking too loudly would ruin it. She was also way too exhausted to use any more strength. 

"Elijah and your other brother took Stephan away from you. You almost died but thanks to Rebekahs _horrendous_ screaming I was motivated enough to get the bullet out of you in time," Klaus explained, eyes never leaving Celia's. 

The girl smiled genuinely and nodded, 

"Thank you" she whispered. 

Klaus shrugged, not letting any emotions on. 

" ' _Family is what's most important'_ is what you always said, isn't it?" he simply stated before he moved to lay on his back, breaking their eye contact. 

"And you used to say that caring makes you weak," Celia spoke, making Klaus turn his head to her. His usual grin was gone. 

Celia reached her arm out, hissing as her shoulder protested against the action. She didn't stop though and let her hand rest against Klaus cheek. 

"Thank you for making yourself weak for me." Celia said earnestly as she looked deep into the Originals eyes. It was the gaze that Elena titled as the " _Salvatore eye thing that gets under your skin"_. 

Klaus clenched his jaw. He was clearly conflicted, he has always been when it came to the girl next to him. It was usually fun and games. He would flirt with her, she'd shoot him down sarcastically and they'd joke around. But then there were moments like this. Moments were his own switch began flickering. 

"Yeah, well," he said, turning his head to look back at the ceiling, making Celias hand fall off his face. 

"I'm not the only one you moved today. Seems like you broke poor Stephan and Elijah at the same time. Damon ran after your brother and left you in our care," the Hybrid explained as to distract from himself. 

"And Elijah?!" Celia demanded to know as she sat up. It was a foolish decision as she groaned out in pain amd almost fell forward if it hadn't been for Klaus catching her. 

He moved her so that her back was against his chest and used his hand to gently move her hair behind her shoulder. He then bit into his wrist and moved his arm around Celia, practically hugging her, before bringing it to her lips. 

"Drink, Love," he spoke softly against the ear where he had just tucked a few strains of her hair behind. 

" _Klaus_ ," Celia said, making the Hybrid sigh. 

How often had he heard this urgent 'Klaus' of hers. The 'Klaus' that said "This is crossing a line" . 

He never cared for it. 

"Just drink. You'll need it if you're gonna go find my brother next," he said, pressing his bleeding wrist onto the girls mouth. 

She parted her lips and brought her fragile arms up to hold onto the Originals before she finally sunk her teeth into his skin. As she drank she sighed contently as her lust was pleased. 

Klaus used his free hand to caress her biceps with his fingers. He'd flesh out this moment for as long as he could because it was true. Deep inside of him he loved her. 

But she would always belong to his brother. 

And that was okay. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey ho!
> 
> I've traveled for some time so this is all for now. I can tell you that in the next chapter there'll be some INTENSE celia x elijah moments 
> 
> Also.... That klaus scene...made me emo ngl...
> 
> Any wishes before i complete the next few chapters? :)


	8. Family is a complicated thing

Having every emotion you suppressed the last 100 years suddenly rain onto you isn't exactly the pleasant experience, so Elijah noticed. As he saw Celia almost get taken from him again he realised that no matter if he was there to protect her or not, things out of his control will always happen. And then suddenly everything washed over him. 

Shock of losing her again. Happiness upon seeing her retrieved. Guilt for having left her after she returned to him. Fear of failure. 

Everything was happening all of once. 

He had run off, desperately trying to shut everything out as he fled into the woods, the moonlight his only companion in the dark night. 

It just wouldn't turn off. Elijah feared that his switch was forever broken. Gone. 

He had ran into the woods until he had come across the waterfalls the town was named after. The Original had fled himself under them, hoping the noise and pressure of the water hitting him would distract him. 

It didn't help though so he just stood there for God knows how long, clutching his head with his hands as the emotions came over him. 

"Elijah!" a voice called out after a while, clear to his superhuman ears even under the water. 

It was her voice. 

Fear washed over him. She shouldn't be here. His humanity was raining over him and his vampire side still tried to fight it. She was the reason he was broken. His vampire side would try to destroy her. 

Elijah turned around and saw her standing by the edge of the water. Upon their eye contact she stepped into the water, walking towards him with normal speed as most of her body got engulfed by the water. 

"Leave!" Elijah called out, using his speed to get to her. Both of them were under the cold surface of the water, Elijah covered until his chest and Celia until her collarbones. 

"You're back," she breathed, locking eyes with him as she moved her hands up to cup his cheeks. 

Elijah sighed at the contact. He had missed her touch so much. Celia also seemed like she was finally able to breath again, the knowledge that the Elijah she knew was getting closer to her healing her. 

"I can see the turmoil in you, my love," she spoke sadly as she closed her eyes. She let her forehead rest against his, having to stand on her toes to do so and he clutched onto her wrists, also closing his eyes. 

"It's gonna be alright Elijah. We'll figure everything out," she continued, speaking softly like she was talking to a wounded animal. 

It would've worked if Elijah hadn't let his eyes wander down her body. The water around them was stained with her blood and her clothes were torn. Her shoulder still had sign of where the bullet went through. 

Guilt washed over him and his vampire side tried to suppress it. He pushed her away and growled at her, teeth fletched. 

"WHY WON'T YOU LEAVE ME ALONE? DO YOU HONESTLY THINK WE CAN BE WHAT WE ONCE WERE?" he screamed, eyes staring through her. 

Celia clenched her jaw and returned Elijah's gaze just as fiercely.

''Guess it's time for the tough love' she thought. 

"I NEVER EXPECTED US TO!" Celia called out, her pent up anger clear in her voice. 

For every step Elijah had taken back she took one forward, not caring that she was facing off a vampire in the middle of his breakdown. 

"BUT I EXPECTED YOU TO AT LEAST TRY! 100 YEARS OR 10 I KNOW YOU WILL ALWAYS LOVE ME!" she said, looking up to the taller man in front of her. Though her words were sweet, her expression was not. 

Elijah clutched his head again, emotions overwhelming him. She had spoken the truth and it was simply too much. 

He couldn't still love her. He shouldn't be allowed to. Caring would make him weak. 

"Fight it, Elijah. I know you're stronger than this!" Celia spoke as she grabbed Elijah's shirt, forcing him to look at her. The vampire growled at her and grabbed her throat. His unhuman side was winning. 

"STOP LOOKING INTO MY HEAD!" he demanded. 

His grip wasn't tight enough though and Celia was able to slap his hand and get it off her throat. 

"I won't! I can see the conflict in you!" she exclaimed and Elijah groaned, a new wave of emotions hitting him. 

"Come on, Elijah!" 

The female vampire grabbed the Original infront of her, holding him with both hands by his collar and making him look at her. 

Elijah glared down at her and she returned his gaze. 

"Decide. Now. You can either kiss me or kill me!" the girl called out, eyes never leaving those of the man in front of her. 

Elijah's chest began heaving, his breath getting quicker as he was fighting with what to do. Celia's eyes never left his eyes and none of them backed down from their silent battle for power. 

That's when Elijah groaned out in frustration before he surged forward, grabbing Celia's face with his hands and smashing his lips on top of hers. 

The girl reacted immediately, pulling Elijah closer to her and returning the kiss with just as much force. 

The kiss quickly got heated and Elijah broke it off so that he could rip the dress off of Cecelia. As soon as it was done the girl jumped up slightly, Elijah catching her by her thighs. She locked her arms around his neck, her hands tangling themselves into his wet hair. 

"Who told you to wear such dresses?" Elijah breathed against her skin as he was kissing down her neck, harshly biting into some spots and grabbing onto her thighs even stronger. Celia threw her head back and moaned before she smirked, a breathy laugh escaping her lips. 

"Your brother," she said, still smirking as she waited for Elijah's reaction. The Original groaned out, his jealousy getting the better of him just as the female vampire had wanted to. He used his speed to get them out of the water and throw them against the nearest tree, Celia groaning in pain and pleasure as her back collided with the wood. 

"Should've done the tough love a while ago," she spoke, laughing before Elijah cut her off by kissing her even harder, making her moan. 

They continued kissing, the moon being the only witness to the reunion that was long overdue. 

* * *

"I really should've packed a camera for this. I'm such a fool sometimes," Klaus spoke, cursing himself while clicking his tongue. 

"But well, not like Bekah won't believe me knowing those two," he said, still talking to himself. He chuckled one last time before grabbing the door knot of the cottage he was standing in front of. He smirked as he opened the door and noticed how he could enter freely. His suspicions were correct. 

It took one of his witches a little under 5 minutes to locate his brother's location and Klaus had done nothing but laughed when he saw the little house in the middle of woods, knowing exactly what he was gonna find if he went there. 

And so he did, smirking as he walked through the demolished house. Clothes he recognized were shattered around the house as well as most of the furniture and painting on the walls. It looked as if a storm had passed through. 

Klaus entered the bedroom of the house which was easy to find as there was only one. The cottage must've belonged to a single grandmother, maybe a late wife of a hunter that preferred the woods. At least that's what the wooden furniture and old fashioned white curtains said. The odd thing out of the picture was the young looking couple in the bed. His brother and Celia. 

Both of them were naked, barely covered by the blanket. Celia's back was against Elijah's chest, one of his arms serving as a pillow for her while the other one was covering her chest, all in all protectively slung around her. 

Klaus used the moments of peacefulness and stretched his hand out, eyes focused on the female vampire on the bed. He used his knuckle to caress her cheek, his expression unguarded for a second. 

After a while his wrist was grabbed and he quickly recovered to his usual smirk, looking from her to Elijah.

"It would be a shame if the world's most dangerous hybrid lost a finger because he didn't know what's his to touch and what isn't like he's like a child," Elijah threatened, eyes slowly opening to look at his brother. 

"And a true man takes what he wants, unlike a child that just waits around for permission," Klaus smirked, his eyes shifting from his brother's eyes to Celia's exposed skin. 

"Nicklaus," Elijah threatened and Klaus dropped the act, laughing as he walked out of the room, gesturing his brother to follow him with his hand. 

It didn't take long for Elijah to arrive in the kitchen where Klaus had settled on a chair by a hideously crafted table. His brother was dressed in only the pants of his suit, his shirt too torn to wear as it laid in the floor somewhere in the house. 

"Had a rough night?" Klaus asked innocently as he pointed towards Elijahs exposed chest that was covered in love bites. 

"Getting your humanity back isn't exactly fun, let me tell you that," Elijah answered, ignoring his brothers remarks whilst he settled with his back against the door frame. 

"Ah yes. Getting your humanity back," Klaus began, laughing as he picked up a bra that was had been laying on the kitchen table. He held it up in the air and looked from it to his brother, 

"Sure that's been the only thing keeping you occupied?" he asked, his grin probably even visible on Mars. 

Before Elijah could opened his mouth the bra was grabbed out of the hybrids hand by Celia who had used her supernatural speed to get to the kitchen. She was dressed in nothing but a white blanket that was loosely hanging on her, only held up by one of her hands clutching it in front of her chest and the blue Salvatore necklace she always wore on her.

"Good morning to you too, Nicklaus," Celia spoke, grinning while she looked at the Hybrid.

"At least one person that understands my humour," Klaus said as he titled his head to her. Celia laughed before she turned around on her heels, cheerful smile replaced with a lovey dovey one as she looked at Elijah. 

Ignoring the gagging sounds of Klaus, she moved forward and placed her free arm behind Elijah's neck before kissing each corner of his mouth. 

"Special morning to you too, my love," she said happily as she smiled at the Original. Elijah returned her smile and slung one arm around her waist before he used his free hand to cup her cheek. 

"Waking up next to you after a 100 years of longing took away any pain my humanity could've given me," he spoke gently before closing his eyes and kissing her forehead. 

"God, I forgot how disgusting you used to be," Klaus said. He was clearly feeling uncomfortable as he quickly got up and looked around the room, actively avoiding the couple. 

"Tell me again why you thought your presence was necessary this morning, Niklaus?" Elijah asked, glaring at his brother over Celia's head.

The girl turned around, her back resting against Elijah's chest. The Original wrapped his arms around her shoulders and placed his chin on the top of her head. 

Both of them waited for Klaus to answer but the Original only kept looking around the room, ignoring the two. 

"Klau-" 

"I suppose you killed the owner, then?" 

"She's in the basement. Answer the question," 

"I don't need to justify mys-" 

"For gods sake Nicklaus, just-" 

"He wanted to see if I was still alive," 

Both Originals turned to look at Celia who had just interrupted the banter of the two brothers. Her gaze was focused on Klaus and he clicked his tongue as he rolled his eyes. 

"I never really fancied that little head thing of yours, Miss Salvatore," he spoke, his gaze shifting between her and Elijah. He looked unsure… vulnerable, something he'd only be around his true family. 

Celia could feel Elijah flexing his muscles around her out of anger and she frowned, her hands coming up to smooth over her lovers arms, 

"Don't punish him for feeling, love. Isn't it all you ever wanted?" she spoke softly, making Klaus eyes snap to her. 

Elijah sighed, gaze on Klaus as he didn't let his expression tell him what he was feeling. 

"He also wanted to see if you're okay," Celia spoke softly, a sad smile on her face as she also looked at Klaus. 

Elijah would have protested or even scoffed at this lie yet…he doubted it was one. The heartbeat of Celia had stayed calm while she spoke whilst Klaus had doubled in speed. It could've been nothing but the truth. 

The Original widened his eyes and looked to his brother. Was it really possible? 

Klaus held the eye contact for a while before his lips began quivering and he quickly averted his gaze. 

"Kole and Rebekah are expecting you two back home. Finn has voluntarily vacated his room so you'll have a wing for yourself," the hybrid stated.

Elijah cleared his throat, clearly moved by his brothers signs of affection. 

"Thank you. We'll gladly take it, Nicklaus," he said earnestly. Klaus just nodded, looking back to his brother, the two of them conveying their emotions through their eyes. 

"I-.." Celia suddenly began, grabbing their attention. 

"What is it, love?" Elijah asked,letting go of her so she could turn around to face him. 

"I… can't live with you, I'm sorry" she spoke, brows furrowed as she looked into Elijah's eyes. 

The Original raised his eyebrows, confusion clear. 

"But-" he began, his hands coming up to her cheeks.

"It's not because of you," she interrupted the Original, sadness clear in her voice. Klaus watched the scenery from afar and listened actively. 

"I can't leave my brothers alone, Elijah. We've already had a lifetime together. Now it has got to be their turn," she explained, the corners of her mouth moving into her cheeks. 

"Are you leaving me?" Elijah asked, eyebrows furrowed as he stepped closer to Celia as if she could run through his fingers like sand. 

Celia chuckled before smiling and shaking her head, 

"I'll just be living with them and getting to know them anew. The past month each of us clung onto the idea of what has once been. For them I was still the defenseless girl that got married off and reappeared in a century she doesn't understand. For me they were my heroes, my dear brothers who would never bring harm to the family. Things have changed though. I attacked them and they attacked me. We're not the same anymore," the girl explained. 

Elijah sighed in displeasure but nodded. He understood more than anyone what complicated family was like. 

"I'll give you as much time as I can spare though. After all the two of us also need to get to know each other again," Celia continued, smile on her face as she made the promise to Elijah. The Original let the corners of his mouth move up to a smile. Cecelia returned the smile and quickly pecked Elijah's nose while she giggled. She then turned around on her heels, her finger pointing towards Klaus, 

"Now, you," she said as she grabbed the attention of the Original, making him raise his eyebrows into his hairline. 

"I hope you brought some clothes for us since you knew where to find us," she declared before she laughed. 

Klaus also laughed and even Elijah chuckled a little bit. 

"In my car, my dear sister-in-law," the Hybrid stated, smiling before he went out of the house to get the things he had bought for them. 

'Just like old times' he thought on his way out. 

* * *

‘’I changed my mind. Let’s go,’’ 

Just as Celia turned around to run away she was stopped by the strong arms of Elijah who had gently grabbed her by her shoulders.

‘’The longer you wait the worse it’ll get, you said so yourself,’’ the vampire smoke, a small smile on his face.

‘’I didn’t marry you back then for you to give me logical points instead of blindly following my decisions and I certainly do not appreciate it now!’’ Celia spoke, wiggling herself out of his grip.

Elijah laughed out loud, clearly endeared by his nervous wife. 

‘’Then why did you marry me?’’ he asked,hand coming up to move a strand of her hair behind her ear.

Celia tried to cover up her nervousness for a short second as she turned to look at Elijah, a smirk on her face.

‘’Well, first of you all you were great in bed,’’ she declared, smiling as the Original cringed at her answer. 

‘’Just be glad we’re too far away from the house so that your brother can’t hear us. He almost had a shock the time I accidentally revealed parts of our love,’’ Elijah declared, frowning at Salvatore boarding house while remembering the night Celia returned from the dead.

It was currently noon, the sun setting as the two of them had stayed in the cottage for a while longer. They had used the time (after they had finally managed to get Klaus to leave) to talk some things out. Although not everything was said it was still enough to decide that the two were on good terms. After all only Elijah had changed over the past 100 years. Celia had stayed the same, a side effect of having been stuck in a stone. The conclusion: they’d pick off where they left, feelings never gone. They could handle a new century and new beliefs. It didn’t matter as long as they tackled it together, so they decided.

The first thing on the agenda was getting their families to lay down their war, with another as well between them. 

The couple was currently standing in front of the Salvatore boarding house. Elijah had used his phone, or as Celia liked to call it ‘the magical communicating thing with all the buttons’, to inform Damon that A) his sister was safe, B) his sister was safe with him and finally C) that she’d return to them by nightfall. Damon hadn’t said much, didn’t let a lot of emotion on. He had stated that he managed to get Stephan ‘locked away for now’ and that he would be waiting at the house. 

Celia had been terrified ever since the phone call. For the past month her relationship with Damon had been as good as it used to be a 160 years ago. Her older brother was the one to show her how to adapt. He had held dinners where he had invited his friends so that Celia could observe the people of the 21st century. He had spent hours listening to his friend Alaric telling Celia about everything she missed in the world and even put up with Caroline and Elena catching Celia up on all ‘womanly things’ of the 21st century. He had hidden the fact that Stephan was acting do differently and distantly, only joining the two for a short amount of time before mysteriously disappearing, by telling her that it was only because he and Elena had recently broken up.

Celia brought her hand up to her mouth so she could bite on her nails, nervously looking at the house. Elijah shook his head and swatted her hand away.

‘’I know I’ve complained that he still treated me like a 16-year-old because he wouldn’t let me be sad over you but right now I truly do feel like one,’’ Celia spoke, everything in her trying to stay put as her instinct told her to just run away.

She had disappointed Damon. The one man in her life who had never dared to hurt her. The only parent she had ever known.

Tears started welling up in her eyes as she kept her gaze focused on the house, knowing that behind the walls was her brother, waiting for her. 

‘’It must be hard for you to see both your brothers without humanity when in life they showed you so much of it,’’ Elijah spoke gently. Only when suddenly the coat of the other was placed over her exposed shoulders she noted that she must’ve been shaking. It wasn’t because she felt cold (although she had to admit that Klaus giving her Rebekahs shortest dress in the middle of autumn probably wasn’t the best idea) but because she was so nervous.

Celia teared her gaze away from the house to look at Elijah next to her, a small smile on her face as she pulled the coat closer to her body.

‘’Thank you,’’ she said. Elijah smiled back at her,

‘’I’ll always take care of you even if your brother decides he won’t anymore, I hope you know that,’’ Elijah said.

Celias heart missed a beat. Elijah had just voiced out her worst fear, the reason she was so afraid. What if Damon was going to abandon her just like he did with Stephan when the younger disappointed him? 

She didn’t need anyone to survive but she still needed her family to live. 

After all, what’s eternity without love?

‘’I can’t believe I hurt him. I can’t believe I did that,’’ she said, more to herself than to Elijah who just scoffed, making Celia look at him with wide eyes. Didn’t he see her turmoil?

Elijah quickly stopped laughing once he saw the expression Celia was giving him. 

‘’Is that funny to you?’’ she asked, glaring at the Original.

Elijah shook his head but Celia could clearly see him trying not to laugh so she furrowed her brows before punching him in the chest. Elijah lost his cool and started laughing out loud again all while Celia stood beside him, baffled.

‘’I’m sorry, my love. I’m sorry,’’ the Original spoke as he gained his control back, his hand coming to cover up the spot where Celia had just punched.

‘’The ignorance you show when it comes to your impulsiveness has always amused me. Forgive me,’’ he spoke bemused, making Celia huff.

‘’What even are you-’’

‘’London 1876’’ Elijah just said, interrupting Cecelia.

‘’Oh my god you burn down one house in the heat of an argument and won’t hear the end of it for the next centuries,’’ she groaned, rolling her eyes as she clutched onto her coat and moved away from Elijah.

‘’I’m going. You’re annoying me and I don’t wanna do this!’’ she declared as she walked away from the Original and the house, a pout clear on her face.

She heard Eliah laugh before she was suddenly trapped in his arms, the vampire having used his speed to get to her and hug her from behind. Celia (without much effort behind it) tried to escape from his hold around her but simply gave up after a short while and instead chose to pout in silence.

‘’Your brother won’t abandon you. Together you’ll both recover Stephan and all will be well in the Salvatore house,’’ Elijah whispered into her ear, making Celia release a breath she had been holding.

‘’He’s the only parent I ever had and I disappointed him,’’ she spoke, vulnerable as she let Elijah in on her fear. She truly felt like a 16 year old again that needed her brother to get her out of her mess. Only this time he wouldn’t be the one to fix it. She needed to do it herself.

Elijah hugged her even tighter before kissing her cheek, making Celia close her eyes as she focused on the proximity between them.

‘’When I realized who exactly Damon and Stephan were I was shocked to see them alive after you mourned for them for your entire existence as a vampire,’’ the Original began to explain,Celia listening attentively.

‘’They immediately got on my nerves as they did nothing but try to kill me,’’ he spoke, a laugh escaping his lips that were close to the shell of Cecelia's ear. The female vampire chuckled too although the tears in her eyes began to return as she thought of the time she had missed with her brothers.

‘’The only reason I didn’t kill them was their connection to you. I let them keep betraying me because they reminded me of you so much it felt like I was able to be with you again. I also think Klaus feels that way about them too, that’s why he’s letting them step onto his toes so much,’’ he spoke softly. Celia shuddered at the information she just got.

‘’You have the same sweet nature that Stephan used to carry with him. You never killed or hurt for pleasure,’’ 

As they were talking the Original slowly rotated them so that Celia was facing the house again.

‘’You’re still as unpredictable, sarcastic and intense as your eldest brother is though. He annoyed me the most,’’ Elijah stated, making Celia choke out a laugh between her crying.

‘’Don’t wait with apologizing for your wrongdoings or you’ll end up like my brother and I. You love your family too much to fail as I once did,’’

The Original let go of his love and slowly started to back away from her.

Celia smiled sadly, not turning around as she spoke because she knew Elijah would still hear.

‘’There is still good in Nicklaus just as there is in my brothers. We just have to pull strong enough,’’ she said, dedication in her voice as she stepped forward with normal speed, knowing her brother would sense her sooner or later.

‘’Then we both shall trying tonight,’’ Elijah declared before he finally left for good, leaving Celia to walk up to the house where her brothers were expecting her.

After only a few moments Damon stepped outside of the door, eyes wide as he looked around the driveway til they finally landed on his sister. Celia stopped in her tracks, holding her breath as she locked eyes with her brothers. Just what could she expect?

Damon took a shaky step forward, his wide eyes focused on her. His expression was the one of utter...relief and he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

‘’I’m so fucking glad you’re alive,’’ is all he said, sighing afterwards.

Celia let out a sob, relief flushing through her as she nodded heavily, her cheeks painted by her tears.

‘’Me too,’’ she said enthusiastically before running towards her brother with normal speed. She felt human again, like it was 1863 and her brother had finally returned to her. Damon took a few steps forwards, opening his arms to catch her as she flung herself at her brother.

‘’I’m so sorry’’ she cried into the nape of his neck, not caring how disgusting it probably felt for Damon to get his shirt soaked with snot and tears.

‘’It’s okay, I failed you, it’s okay,’’ Damon spoke, holding her as close as possible.

‘’I won’t turn my back on my siblings anymore, okay?’’ he continued and Celia nodded, crying out of happiness. She was so relieved. Damon wouldn’t leave her like he once did.

* * *

‘’What the hell is going on?’’ Stephan asked as the doors to his chamber were opened. 

After what happened to Cecilia the vampire had gone berserk. As emotions flushed over him he had escaped to the city and killed two people, Damon barely able to stop him. Only with the help of Alaric and Bonnie did they manage to get him under control. Damon had thrown him in the chamber that the Salvatore house possessed in it’s basement and left him there ever since. He knew his brother was close to getting his humanity back, it was just a matter of time until he would finally give in.

‘’Some quality sibling time, brother’’ Damon spoke, smirking as he held up a bottle of whiskey.

‘’Leave me alone,’’ Stephan simply said.

Ah, so he was in the guilt face that came after the blood lust.

‘’Now don’t pout Stefano, it’s not like you actually killed me,’’ Cecelia, who appeared behind Damons back, declared. 

Stephans eyes widened and he used his speed to get to her, stopping himself right before he reached her. He looked her up and down to see if she was hurt and Cecelia smiled, reaching her hand out to touch his cheek.

‘’I’m fine,’’ she simply stated. 

Stephan cracked a little bit, letting his face show the pain he was feeling. The corners of Cecelia's mouth went into her cheeks before she hugged her brother, not caring about the risk. Stephan exhaled heavily, not expecting the hug and the wave of emotions that washed over him.

‘’I’m not angry with you. It’s okay,’’ Cecelia spoke softly, making Stephans lips quiver.

‘’Let’s move this up to the living room, shall we?’’ Damon simply stated as he went ahead.

* * *

‘’And then came the Lockwood boy!’’ Stephan declared before laughing loudly. Damon whistled and Celia groaned before slapping Stephan.

The three Salvatores were currently in the living room, spread out on the floor. Damon and Stephan laid with their feet to the fireplace and Celia with her feet to the main entrance, her head between her brother’s. Each of them were as drunk as a Sailor.

‘’You swore you wouldn’t tell!’’ she declared angrily, making Damon and Stephan laugh even harder.

‘’He made me swear to never tell you that he was the one that he was the one that made out with your best friend and not me!’’ Damon started, laughing even harder while he rolled around a bit.

‘’You made out will Johanna Fell?’’ Celia asked, sitting up and turning around to look at Stephan.

‘’I also made out with Liz Taylor back in the day, so what?’’ Stephan asked, not moving as he looked up at the ceiling, his eyes trying to find patterns.

‘’Who?’’ Celia asked, cocking her head to the side.

‘’Beautiful film star!’’ Damon, who had used his vampire speed to fling himself at the nearest alcohol bottle, explained. He took one that was standing around and already opened and almost emptied by itself.

‘’Maybe we should cut back,’’ Celia spoke,giggling as she felt herself sway to the side before she finally ended up on the floor, making her brothers laugh at her.

‘’Only you’re the lightweight!’’ Stephan declared before taking another bottle and drinking from it.

‘’Yeah, Elijah always had trouble with me when we would go out,’’ Celia said, smiling upon the memory.

Damon’s face morphed into disgust and he grunted before shaking his head,

‘’Still can’t believe you’re involved with the Originals,’’ he said, Stephan humming in acknowledgement.

Celia simply scoffed and furrowed her brows,

‘’I still can’t believe you slept with my sister-in-law. Both of you!’’ she said, pointing towards the ceiling she was facing, probably thinking she was actually pointing at her brothers.

Damon just laughed and Stephan shivered at the thought.

‘’Seriously, what is it with brothers loving the same girl?’’ Celia asked, thinking about Elijah and Klaus as well as Stefan and Damon. She shook her head. Must be a weird guy thing.

‘’Started with you, honestly’’ Stephan then said casually, surprising his sister.

‘’Why am I always the bad guy?’’ she asked, lips formed into a pout.

‘’Stephans right, kiddo. We competed for fathers love when we were little but as soon as we noticed that that bastard had none to give we projected it onto you,’’ Damon declared between hiccups, coming back to them and laying down next to Celia. He stretched his arm out and she used it as a pillow, her head turning towards her brother.

‘’I think that one word you thought me is fitting now...something about feces…’’ she spoke as she looked at her brother.

‘’Ah, you mean bullshit,’’ he said as he looked back to her. She nodded happily.

‘’Exactly!’’ she said, clapping her hands excitedly. She had definitely drunk too much.

‘’It really isn’t,’’ Stephan said, getting up and walking around the room with a bottle of liquor in his hand.

‘’When we were younger we’d make you decide which one of us you should take to the founders festivals. When a boy showed interest in you we told you we’d be the only ones to protect you. When you had a problem and would ask Damon to fix it I got jealous and when you came to me to talk about your feelings it annoyed him. You had so much love to give but none of us thought the other one should have something of it,’’

It was hard for Celia to process these things, the alcohol making it hard for her to think straight.

‘’But...Damon was the one to give all the love, wasn’t he?’’ she asked, genuinely confused. Her brothers eyes snapped to her.

‘’I was?’’ he asked, equally as drunk as Celia although better at handling it.

Celia nodded confidently,

‘’You were in charge. Stephan adored you as much as I did and when we needed affection we came to you. You were our parent, how often do I have to say that?’’ Celia asked, her brows furrowed.

Damon and Stephan went still for a while, processing what she just said.

‘’This is nice...all I’ve wanted the past 160 years…’’ Celia said as she snuggled closer to Damon, her eyes shutting down.

The dark haired vampire watched her fall asleep, her head resting on top of his chest. After she was gone he sighed and turned to look at Stephan, eyeing him suspiciously.

‘’She bought it. You can stop pretending now,’’ he simply said, watching how all emotions slid from his brothers face.

‘’How do you know?’’ he simply asked, referring to him pretending to be drunk and feeling.

‘’A parent knows their kids,’’ Damon, who was actually drunk and emotional, just said, his eyes also closing. 

Stephan clenched his jaw. He wouldn’t admit what he was feeling upon seeing his siblings reunited...he couldn’t. If he’d make room for those emotions the guilt would wash over him and kill him. Every fiber of his body was fighting that...was fighting to feel. 

Damon scoffed under his breath, his eyes closed and almost close to sleep.

‘’Guess I became father then. Turned my back on you…’’ he mumbled before finally going to sleep, leaving Stephan to look down on his siblings and feeling his chest ache. 

Each minute it was getting harder to fight it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a whole bunch of fluff we desperately needed with the slight smut we also desperately needed with the tension with absolutely needed


	9. Never lose you again

"I'm going to kill him," 

Elena rolled her eyes and sighed, 

"You're overreacting as usual," she said as she placed a bowl of fruits in front of Damon. 

About an hour ago the vampire had come over to her house to see if his sister, who had disappeared all of the sudden, was at her place. When it turned out she wasn't and that she was also no where else Damon began to walk around Elena's house nervously, annoying the teenage girl just slightly. To get him out of her hair she had asked the obvious question:

"Have you asked Elijah?" 

After fletching his teeth and doing that eye thing he did whenever he was annoyed, Damon caved in and called Elijah. What he found out was that his baby sister had snuck out in the middle of the night to go to New York with her boyfriend. 

Damon hasn't left Elena's house ever since then nor has he stopped complaining about the Original. 

"He thinks he's sooooo above all of us with his morals yet he follows my sister around like a love sick puppy, totally disregarding how disgusted that makes me feel!" Damon declared , frowning as he took some fruit and placed it inside his mouth. Elena couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped her mouth upon seeing the frustrated vampire. It reminded her of when she had first started dating and Jeremy was grossed out by it. Damon glared at Elena for laughing and the girl laughed even harder. 

"Come on now," she spoke, still chuckling.

"He's not 'following her around' they just want to spend time together. That's what you do when you love someone," Elena said before also taking some fruit. Damon shifted in his chair that stood by the kitchen table. 

"Don't tell me you're like Blondie that thinks they're soooooo romantic," he stated, rolling his eyes afterwards. 

Elena gave him a hard glance for calling Caroline by the degrading nickname before shrugging with her shoulders. 

"You can't rely deny that they're cute," she said casually before taking the now empty bowl and going over to the sink to wash it. 

Damon groaned loudly, making Elena bit the inside of her cheeks to supress a smile. 

"Come on, Damon! I mean they literally married each other back then. That's like the most romantic thing you can do when you know that you'll definitely live forever," Elena declared, smiling as she thought about the couple they were talking about. 

She had finished rinsing off the bowl and turned around so she could get a towel but was startled when she was met with Damon's chest instead. The vampire was as usual way too close to her. 

Elena just rolled her eyes at the smirking Damon and walked past him, used to his antics. 

"Just because you marry doesn't mean you'll be together forever. What he should've done is taken her to some place where Klaus would never see her and not play happy family with him," Damon declared as he walked after Elena. 

"He did that! But you know how Klaus is. He would've found her with or without Elijah falling for her since he thought she'd lead him to Katherine," Elena explained. Her mood dropped slightly and she worriedly looked over to Damon. 

"Since we're talking about Klaus.." she began worriedly biting on her lip. 

Damon stiffened slightly at the elephant in the room. A few days ago Elena had found out that Stephan hadn't given every coffin back to Klaus and that he, Damon and Bonnie were trying to awake whatever is inside of it. Klaus had been recently been distracted with hybrids, getting Mystic Falls to trust him and most importantly his reunited family. The power play with Stephan had stopped for a while but now Klaus was settled. Settled and pissed that Stephan tried to play a power play with him almost daily. 

Yesterday Klaus had sent one of his hybrids to capture Elena but luckily she had been with Caroline who saved her. Stephan started to feel backed into a corner and if one thing wasn't good it was a vampire without humanity feeling threatened.

Damon shook his head and scoffed as he thought about the current politics in the town. 

"Maybe that's why he's got her out of here…" Damon muttered under his breath. 

Elena showed him a small smile. She'd keep it to herself but deep down she knew that Damon had actually started to accept Elijah, knowing the Original would never hurt his sister. 

But he still was Damon. The brother that would always want to be the first choice, destroying everything while trying to be just that. 

Elena just hoped it wouldn't destroy what he and his sister had now. 

* * *

"You know what I like most about the stars?" Celia asked while turning her head. Her gaze went from the night sky to Elijah next to her. 

The two vampires had been in New York for 4 days now, Elijah showing Celia several museums, food, cultural hotspots and concerts. The female loved every bit of it, fascinated by how far humankind had come ever since her day. There was no visible difference between gender and races. Everyone walked on the street. No one was owned. The freedom in the city filled her with unimaginable joy. 

"What is it?" Elijah asked, his gaze also focused on her like it had been the entire time. 

The two of them had gone to the rooftop of their hotel where mysteriously a picnic had been prepared. After Celia was done teasing Elijah for being a sap the two had settled with laying next to each other while stargazing. 

The female vampire smiled and sighed contently, 

"Whatever happens in this realm, the stars always stay the same," she said before looking back to the sky. Elijah settled with keeping his eyes on her, not ashamed in the slightest 

"Back in Italy I used to look up to the sky for hours, laying in the fields and enjoying the warmth of the country," she continued to explain, Elijah's gaze focused on her lips as she spoke. Celia noticed and laughed before turning her head back to face the Original. 

"You're not listening," she said, pouting. 

Elijah's lips formed into a smile and he reached out for her. His knuckles grazed her cheek softly and Celia closed her eyes as she enjoyed the small action. 

"I'm always listening to you," the vampire said, eyes on his partner. Celia smiled, the corners of her eyes crinkling. Elijah returned her smile. He had always been unable to not return it. Her happiness would always spread over to himself. 

"You told me back then too. Do you remember the night?" he asked, voice low and soft. The moment was too intimate to speak loudly. 

Celia nodded and opened her eyes to look at Elijah, a sly smile on her face. 

"The night you saved my life and compelled me," Celia said teasingly, making Elijah click his tongue. 

"You Salvatores really can't move on from something, can you?" he asked while rolling his eyes. 

Celia laughed and moved a little closer to him, her head resting on his shoulder. The Original moved one hand up to hold her head while he kissed her forehead. 

"Never. We're that annoying," Celia laughed, her arm coming around the others torso. 

Both looked back up to the sky as if looking into the past. 

**1865**

_It's been a few weeks since Elijah has been living with the Marinos or rather with the beautiful girl that had quickly become more than his mission. Neither of them would admit to their feelings but their attraction was clear._

_That fact must've not only been recognised by them but also her husband. Elijah had bitterly noticed how the man seemed to have suddenly developed a new interest in his wife. He was like a small child, not wanting someone to play with his toy even though he didn't want it for himself._

_Currently the Marinos threw a party for said son as he had reached his 25th year. His young bride had been with him the entire time upon his demand which Elijah despised to see. He had danced with her, shown her around the room and kissed her while locking his eyes with Elijah. With each finger the young man had laid on Cecelia it made the Orignal want to kill him. He had always thought he was above jealousy (despite maybe when it came to his younger brother) but this evening proved him otherwise. Only his worry overshadowed his green monster. The later it got the more the Marino son seemed to drink, his compensated state clearly showing._

_It was when he thought no one was looking that the man had forcefully grabbed his wife and left the building with her, the fear clearly written all over her face._

_If it hadn't been for his utter infatuation with the girl that kept his eyes on her all the time Elijah truly would've missed them leaving. Thankfully, he did not._

_He quickly followed them, sighing as the fresh air of the night hit him. He used his vampire hearing to make them out and clenched his fists when he finally heard something,_

_"Stop! Please! You're drunk, don't do this!" Celia begged in italian._

_Elijah could hear a scoff and the sound of ripping clothing, followed by a sob._

_"You're my wife. I can do with you whatever I want. Resist any more and I'll stab you to death," the eldest Marino son spoke._

_Elijah quickly ran forward and hoped he'd arrive wherever they were fast enough._

_"I will not have this anymore!" Celia shouted. Elijah heard cracking and groaning. She must've thrown her husband against something._

_He was close to knowing their exact position and continued running towards the spot when he stopped dead in his tracks when he heard a gasp. He could smell blood._

_He ran towards the stalls, the place where he had heard their conversation. When he entered the horses began protesting by stomping their feet but he didn't notice. He only saw the girl that was leaning against a wall, her dress torn and her hand grasping her bleeding stomach. In front of her stood her husband, bloody dagger in hand._

_Just as he wanted to stab her again Elijah ran forward and grabbed him by his throat. Cecelia widened her eyes, shocked by his sudden entry._

_Elijah's fangs were out and the bags under his red eyes were veiny. He was ready to kill the man in front of him._

_But then Cecelia fell to the ground with a gasp, her wound releasing even more blood._

_Elijah looked down on the girl and panic washed over him. She couldn't die._

_Elijah looked back at her husband and grunted before throwing him to the ground, releasing him of his death grip._

_"You shall forget everything and never return to this town again unless you believe her to be dead," he spoke in perfect italian as he compelled the scum beneath him. The man nodded and ran off._

_Elijah crouched down to Cecelia and bit into his wrist, his hands shaking as he brought his arm closer to the girl._

_"Take this!" he demanded urgently before forcing her to take his blood into her mouth, the girl protesting by grunting and shaking her head._

_Once she had swallowed the blood Elijah released her of his hold and she glared at him._

_"WHAT ARE YOU?" she demanded to know, her chest heaving up and down._

_The Original sighed in relief and went with one hand through his hair as he felt the adrenaline leave his body._

_"A lovesick fool," he simply said as he let himself fall to the ground._

_Cecelia collected her dress and stood up to flee from the creature in front of her but fell as her wound wasn't completely healed yet. Elijah caught her in his arms and she immediately tried to escape from his hold._

_The vampire panicked. He couldn't lose her._

_"Look at me!" he demanded, making the girl stop shaking her head._

_"It's still me," he said, desperately._

_Cecelia locked eyes with him, her gaze as strong as if she tried to see inside of him. Her breathing started to get under control again and she stopped fighting Elijah._

_For a moment the Original thought he could just let things be. He could see she trusted him even though she was afraid._

_But he wouldn't risk it. He needed to be sure that he could stay by her side._

_"Look at me," he repeated softly, one arm holding her by her waist and pulling her closer to him. His other arm reached for face, his hand cupping her cheek._

_"I love you," he breathed out, looking at her in wonder. Cecelia widened her eyes and opened her mouth but Elijah shut it with his thumb._

_"Don't answer, please. I just need to say this once," he pleaded, every protective wall he had ever built around himself crumbling as he looked at that one girl. That one girl that had made it into his heart for so many reasons._

_Cecelia was shaking but she nodded, her eyes focused on Elijah's. The Original let out a shaky breath. Her trust was making his heart raze._

_"All I've wanted to do for these past weeks is to just take you and make you mine," he confessed, his thumb leaving her lips to caress her cheek._

_"But you deserve better than me. I have no right to make life decisions for you. I love you too much to be that selfish," he whispered as he let his forehead rest against hers._

_"I will stay by your side for as long as you don't want me to anymore. I will protect you from harm and leave my feelings to haunt me. There is no need for you to fall in the hands from one monster to those of another," he spoke, his lips ghosting over hers._

_Cecelia clenched her jaw. Elijah knew she wanted to protest and it made him smile._

_"I will make you forget this," he spoke gently. Cecelia gasped and shook her head in protest, her lips pressed into a tight line._

_"It has to be," Elijah spoke desperately, his eyebrows furrowing._

_"It doesn't," Celia breathed out, making Elijah lock his eyes with her. Both looked at each other with desperation, so many unsaid feelings boiling up between them. Elijah gritted his teeth and then lost the last bit of composure he had. He surged forward and pressed his lips on top of Celia's. The young girl gasped and Elijah pressed her closer to himself._

_Just as Celia wanted to return the kiss, her lips slowly started to move against the ones of Elijah's, the Original broke it off._

_"Forget." he simply said as he looked into her eyes. Celia breathed out and closed her eyes, a single tear rolling down her cheek._

_Once she opened her eyes she was standing in the middle of a field, Elijah next to her. Everything that had just happened vanished from her mind._

_She wanted to ask many questions, for example how they got here, but she was distracted as she saw how upset Elijah looked._

_"Are you okay, my lord?" she asked, taking a few steps to get closer to the Englishman._

_Elijah just smiled and nodded but it didn't reach his eyes. Celia didn't believe him and furrowed her brows. She tried to think of a way to comfort the man and smiled as she looked above them._

_"Look up, my lord," she spoke, a small smile gracing her lips._

_Elijah followed her order and looked up to the stars._

_"A beautiful night," he simply stated, tone sober. Celia looked back at the man and took his hand in her own, making Elijah snap his eyes to her._

_"Whenever I feel saddened I look up to the sky, you want to know why?" she asked with a smile on her face before looking back up. Elijah's eyes stayed on her and he nodded._

_"The sky stays the same no matter if something good or bad has happened to you. It's a reminder that no matter how much chaos life brings you things will figure themselves. That there are always some things that stay, even if they're just within you." the girl spoke as she outshined the stars with her smile._

_Elijah sighed as he looked at the girl in front of him. He was so in love with her it hurt him._

_Yet instead of voicing his inner turmoil he just smiled and squeezed her hand._

Elijah looked to the girl that was asleep on his chest and smiled. He loved her just as much as he did back then. He swore he'd never lose her again. 

* * *

"This is ridiculous," Klaus stated as he tucked his shirt into his pants. 

"Oh stop pouting, will you?" Rebekah said as she came forward to fix his tie. 

"Why are we doing this again?" Kole, who entered the room dressed in a suit, asked while rolling his eyes. 

Rebekah also rolled her eyes, 

"You all know why. It's because our brother hates us," she said sarcastically. A sigh could be heard and all three Originals turned around to look at their bigger brother, Elijah.

"I simply proposed. This 'family dinner' was all her idea," he stated as he made his way through the room to take place next to Klaus and look at himself in the mirror. 

"An entire evening with the Salvatore brothers. Ugh." Rebekah groaned. 

"Maybe you shouldn't have slept with both, dear sister," Kole teased, earning a smack from Rebekah. 

"But seriously, why are you such a sentimental fool, Elijah? You already married her once. Why a second time?" Klaus asked, tone making it clear that he was annoyed with his brother's antics. 

The Original rolled his eyes and opened the jacket of his suit for a more casual look, 

"I suggested to renew our vowes and then run away from this mess you and her brother are creating at the moment," Elijah clarified. 

Klaus laughed and threw his arms in the air, shrugging. 

"Leave it to Celia to want to make us all one big, happy family," Rebekah spoke bitterly as she fixed her earrings. 

"She's nice and all but I still don't know how she managed to wrap her and our annoying brothers around her finger," Kole declared as he also walked up to the mirror as Elijah had just cleared his spot. 

"Her intention is not to print out Christmas cards but for Nicklaus and Stephan to lay down their war and come to an agreement that will please both parties," Elijah said. He had this tone that stated it was his final statement to the whole matter and his siblings respected that, although none of them would admit it out loud. 

After a while the Salvatore brothers arrived, looking just as amused about this whole thing as everyone else. The Originals greeted them in the foyer with drinks in their hands, given to them by the waiters that walked around the house. 

"Where is your sister?" was the first thing Elijah asked upon seeing the two, skipping the formal greetings. 

Damon scoffed and rolled his eyes at the Original. Stephan formed his eyes into slits as he looked at Klaus, 

"She was supposed to be here already," he stated. 

Klaus rolled his eyes, 

"What, you think I locked her up somewhere ?" he asked, clearly annoyed by the presence of the two. 

"I don't like this," Elijah suddenly said before using his speed to get to the nearest window and look out of it, the eyes of everyone else following him. 

"What the-" the Original began but he was interrupted by a loud crash. 

A stake had been thrown through the window and right into Elijah's chest, causing the Original to stumble back a few steps as his hand grasped the piece of wood inside of him. He looked rather pissed than shocked as he looked outside the window while pulling the stake out of him. 

"Now that I have your attention!" a voice shouted, turning everyone's head to it. All vampires used their speed to go outside and face the man that stood in the driveway. 

Klaus surged forward and grabbed him by the throat, choking him. 

"Give me one good reason to not kill you right now," the Hybrid spoke, his eyes changing color. The young man was clearly afraid but he held his ground. With eyes focused on Klaus he raised an arm in which hand he was holding a phone. Only Klaus could see as he was blocking the view from the others with his broad shoulders. 

"What is it? Why aren't you killing him?" Rebekah demanded to know, confused since her brother usually didn't have that much patience with anyone. 

Klaus growled and let go of the man who fell to the ground, 

"You might want to see this, Elijah," the Hybrid said as he walked around the man to hold his head up by his hair, making the man grunt. 

Elijah moved forward, causing Damon and Stephan to join him once they saw that the Original had stilled in his tracks, suspicious for the usually composed vampire. 

On the screen Celia could be seen in the middle of a living room. Her arms were held up by chains that were attached to poles and she was on her knees. She wore jeans and a simple top which showcased her shoulders on which there were burn marks. 

Elijah was the first one to react, moving forward to put his fist inside the chest of the man to grab his heart. 

"What do you want?" the vampire growled as he fixated his gaze on the man in front of him. The guy smirked, blood spilling out of his mouth. 

"For all of you to rot in hell," he said, coughing up even more blood between his words. 

Elijah fletched his teeth before pulling his arm back, the heart of the man in his hand. Before he could process anything else he was suddenly pushed to the ground, a very upset Damon Salvatore holding him by his collar. 

"YOU FUCKING IDIOT JUST KILLED OUR ONLY CLUE!" the vampire shouted, brows furrowed in anger. 

Elijah clenched his jaw and galred at the vampire, 

"I'd die before I let anything happen to her," he spoke with determination as he looked into Damon's eyes. The Salvatore returned Elijahs burning gaze and grabbed onto the Original even harder.

"You will." he promised. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This whole chapter is just me screaming "THEY'RE IN LOVE"


	10. Underestimated

**1907**

_It was a sunny afternoon in the rural town that laid in the south of france. It has been a few years since Klaus and Rebekah had joined their elder brother Elijah and the love of his life, Cecelia Salvatore. The four had not left france yet since everyone loved the country a lot. They had moved from city to city though, always afraid that their father would show up one day. They didn't know where their other siblings stayed but they were content just being with each other._

_Elijah was currently looking outside of the window, a wine glass filled with blood in his hand. He had grown his hair out a bit but it was gelled back to give him a sleek look. As usual, he was dressed in a suit. Next to him his sister appeared, wearing in a heavy looking dress and hair hair up in a bun. Her hands were crossed in front of her chest and her gaze was also focused on the window._

_"Are you afraid our brother is gonna stab your small girl with the end of his brush or why are you watching them like a hawk?" she asked, pointing to the view outside the window._

_From the window the garden of the house could be seen. Currently, Celia and Nicklaus were in the middle of said garden, standing in front of a canvas. The Original was showing the girl how to improve her paintings upon her request. Ever since she was a vampire the girl had the freedom to do what she wanted, a privilege she had last had in Mystic Falls. To feel connected to her roots again she had started to join in her old interests again, the Michaelsons joining her here and there._

_Elijah sighed as he watched how Klaus shook his hand and grabbed a brush out of Celias hand while telling her something. The female vampire replied by hitting Klaus shoulder, making the Original laugh._

_"I'm just bathing in guilt," Elijah said ominously while he turned away from the window to fix himself a new drink._

_"For what do you feel guilt?" Rebekah asked as she furrowed her brows and followed him._

_Elijah sighed anew as he avoided his sisters burning gaze._

_"It's just…" he began, leaving his words hanging in the air as he felt too foolish to say them out loud._

_"Tell me, brother," Rebekah spoke softly, her hand resting against her brothers backs._

_"I-... All I ever wanted was for us to be like we're now..to be a family. Yet everytime I see Nicklaus and Celia together I can't help but feel just slightly repulsed," Elijah spoke, gaze finally shifting to his sister._

_"It's okay to feel that way, Elijah. Especially given your shared history!" Rebekah stated as she came to hug her brother._

_Outside of the house Klaus smirked as he turned his head from the canvas in front of him to Cecelia,_

_"Everyone claims you to be oh so sweet yet you take quite the pleasure in torturing my brother like this, young Salvatore," the vampire spoke, referring to the conversation he just eavesdropped on. Celia laughed while she took the brush back that Klaus had stolen from her._

_"Sometimes you have to show a man that your universe doesn't revolve around him," she said deviously as she began to paint again._

_Klaus rolled his eyes at her,_

_"If I get caught between one of your fights with my brother I'm taking Rebekah and fleeing this continent. You scare even me when you're angry, love," he declared, shaking his head as he silently judged her technique._

_Celia laughed out loud,_

_"You know the Italian fire," she simply stated._

_She finished drawing a rose before she looked back at Klaus._

_"Elijah likes it," she teased, smitten smile on her face._

_Klaus scoffed and grabbed her wrist before she could place the brush against the canvas again._

_"Maybe you should focus less on my brother and more on those roses because so far they're simply horrendous," he complained as he quickly stole the brush back._

_"Oh, don't get snappy. You're just insecure because you don't know if I actually like you or if I'm just using you to make Elijah jealous, you poor little vampire" she spoke with a pout as she reached out to pat Klaus arms. The Original swatted her hand away and she laughed before getting up from the chair she had been sitting on to give Klaus access to it. He had been standing next to her but had done the work the entire time anyways._

_The Original clicked his tongue while sitting down,_

_"I absolutely despise that head thing of yours," he stated as he glared and pointed towards the girl with his brush._

_Celia laughed out loud before she looked back at Klaus,_

_"You should. Your thoughts are nasty." she declared between laughter. Klaus opened his mouth before a devious smile took over his face. He dipped the brush he was holding in fresh paint and got up from the chair, pointing it towards Celia. The face of the girl fell and she looked at the Original with big eyes,_

_"You wouldn't!" she exclaimed, already taking a few steps back from Klaus who was slowly approaching her._

_Klaus continued to smirk and shrugged. Celia picked up her dress and began to run away but as she had turned around Klaus was already there. He quickly placed the brush over Celia's cheek, making the girl shriek._

_"It's on," Klaus stated, smiling brightly._

_Celia laughed and continued to run away, Klaus following her with equal enthusiasm. It reminded her of when she was a child and her brothers would chase her around the garden. She ran just as freely as she did back then_

_Celia laughed as she kept looking back to see if Klaus was catching up to her, practically ignoring what's in front of her. It caused her to collide with something hard and she stumbled back a few steps._

_As Celia turned her head to look at what she had run into she was pleasantly surprised to see that it was Elijah. The Original laughed and his hands came up to steady her by gently holding onto her elbows._

_"Having fun?" he asked while looking between her and his brother, who had stilled in his tracks upon seeing Elijah._

_Celia showed him a bright smile and nodded before she moved up to stand on her toes. It allowed her to be the same height as Elijah, their noses brushing against each other._

_"More now that you're here," she said sappily as she quickly pecked his lips._

_Elijah smiled at her, his worry forgotten._

_"Let's get them back," he whispered against Celia's lips as his gaze went from her to Klaus and Rebekah who were currently chasing each other around._

_Celia laughed and nodded before turning around and running off. She can't remember a time when she more happy._

Celia groaned, blinking as she slowly started to adjust to the light in whatever room she was in. Her head was pounding and a certain spot by her neck throbbing. 

"Why did I just see this?" she asked herself as she continued to adjust to the room. 

Suddenly panic washed over her. She remembered everything. Someone had snapped her neck the minute she went outside her house this morning. She had woken up in an old warehouse, her arms pulled away from her body by chains that were attached to wooden poles. Around the room torches were placed in a large circle and ominous drawings with chalk covered the ground. There also was an altar with three witches on it, surrounded by candles and random objects that probably served as Talismans. 

"What is going on?" she had asked but was quickly met with a sharp pain. A whip, drenched with vervain, had hit her back. She had screamed out in pain and a devilish laugh filled the room. 

"That was a perfect shot for the camera, thanks Derek!" a female voice proclaimed, making Celia's head snap to it. 

A woman, who didn't look older than 30 and extremely familiar, entered the scene, her form enlightened by the light of the flames. 

"Glad to have you back. Took you awhile to be back. Almost got bored but there was a lot of fun stuff in your head. Such happy memories," she declared sarcastically as she strutted through the room to direction of the chained up vampire. 

"Who hell are you?" Celia gritted through her teeth, the pain she felt on her back stinging horribly. 

"Oh look at that, an angry Salvatore. The three of you really look alike. Especially the eye thing. Wow, I'm getting the shivers," the woman joked, shaking her body while laughing. 

Celia growled at the woman, surging forward but being held back by the chains. 

"Alright, alright, I'll give you a hint. Everyone in this room who was once enslaved to an Original and wants to get revenge on that entire damned clan by using their little bitch as a bait please raise their hands!" the female called out, causing the three witches to laugh and raise their hands. Celia also heard some darker chuckles and assumed men were placed around the dark space, simply not enlightened by the light of the flames. 

"Very funny," Celia said sarcastically while rolling her eyes. 

The woman in charge pouted and used superhuman speed to stand in front of Celia. 

"Don't you remember me, Mademoiselle?" the vampire asked as she looked deep into the eyes of Celia. 

The eyes of the Salvatore girl went over the woman's features. She had black hair and a strong jaw with dark, hunting eyes. 

Celia gasped, she remembered. 

"1901," Celia breathed out in shock. 

A maid of her and Elijah's. Celias favorite maid, Genevieve. The maid that Klaus had killed. 

"How the hell did you survive?" Celia asked in shock.

Genevieve smiled, her hand coming up to Celia's cheek. She gently cupped it and smiled genuinely, utterly confusing other vampire. 

"Because of you, my lady" she said softly. 

Celia furrowed her brows and shook her head. 

"I only brought death upon you, I-" she began but stopped when the woman shook her head. 

"You're as much a victim as I am, my lady. Today I will free you and get my revenge. Get our revenge!" she spoke with determination, her eyes locked those of Celia's. 

"I don't understand-" Celia said, furrowing her brows as she tried to back away from the woman. 

The soft expression of Genevieve was exchanged with a cold, calculating one. 

"Well, it's gonna take your boy scouts at least 20 more minutes to get here according to my spies so I might as well just give you the long, villain-y prologue, shall I?" the woman laughed before she got up and walked around the room. 

"In 1896 I got married to a governor who lived in the city. My life was wonderful with him and it only turned around when a few years later a man showed up at my door. An original vampire," the woman began to explain. Behind her the witches started to recite spells, turning Celia's attention to her. On the altar stood three woman, each with dark skin and of youthful age. 

"You mean Elijah?" Celia asked in surprise, her eyes snapping back to the woman who wandered around the room. She nodded. 

"The worst of them all, yes," Genevieve confirmed full of spite, 

"I know he told you he hired all the staff but we were actually the owners that he compelled to be your little slaves. It was easier that way," she explained, eyes trained on Cecilia as she progressed the information. 

"I-... So you were all a family?" she asked. Genevieve nodded. 

"I was your maid. My husband his butler. The rest of my household that was there that fateful day made up the rest of the staff," she explained. 

Celia clenched her jaw and fixated her eyes on the woman, 

"And now you want revenge on the Original family because Elijah enslaved you and Klaus killed all your family?" Celia asked through gritted teeth. 

"Ding, ding, ding!" Genevieve said, imitating the sound of a game show bell when the answer was right. Cecelia didn't get that reference. 

Before the Salvatore could ask any more questions the woman spoke up again, voice raising in volume as the witches had just caused the fire to increase and the crackling of the flames echoed in the otherwise empty warehouse. 

"At first I didn't just hate them but you too. Yet, after I had turned and all compulsion had worn off, I remembered that you had treated me rather nicely, even though you fed on me. When you had fed too much you would restore my strength by giving me your blood. You had also done that the night before the Hybrid scum had killed me. I soon realized that someone as pure as you couldn't be with scum like them. I realized what you are… a victim,"

Celia laughed upons Genevieve's accusation, making the vampire scowl. She raised her arm and Cecelia stopped laughing as another slap with the whip hit her shoulder, causing her to scream out in pain. 

"You're so blinded that you can't see the bad in them. Face the trurth, girl! That vampire compelled you to be with him! He kept you a slave just like he did with me!" Genevieve called out, sounding like a maniac. 

Celia clenched her teeth and glared at the woman, 

"I'm going to kill everyone in this room and make you watch before I rip out your throat!" Celia called out, her chains rustling as she tried to move forward. 

Genevieve and Derek, the one who stood behind her and was currently torturing her, laughed in unison. 

"Oh please, look at you. Vampire or not you're just a small little girl that has had the unfortune of having maniacs for brothers and lovers!" Genevieve declared,her laughter replaced with rage as she surged forward to grab a handful of Celia's hair,making the girl groan out in pain. 

"I studied you for years because you're their weakest spot. I was the one who put you into that box. I watched all those serial killers you love so much suffer for a century as they believed you to be dead!" she declared and Cecelia gasped at the shocking revelation. 

"It took me so long to fulfill my plan. Klaus had to become a Hybrid so that the witches, living and dead, would join me in my quest to kill him. I had to wait til your stupid brothers would finally find their way back to each other. I had to wait 'til everyone traveled to this exact town, where the ground is enhanced by the blood of a hundred witches!" Genevieve yelled,the insanity that her plan caused her clearly showing on her face. 

Celia scoffed under her breath as she used her half lidded eyes to glare at the woman infront of her. 

"So what, you're just gonna try to kill the most powerful beings in the world with three baby-faced witches?" she asked mockingly. 

It caused her to be hit with the whip one more time before the woman spoke up again. 

"Oh no, that's the best part," Genevieve declared with a devilish smirk. 

"The witches are simply going to capture them in a circle. Your brothers as well as your two playthings, the Original brothers. I'm gonna torture you until they kill the Originals as the only way to save you.Ripping out hearts is something you Salvatores are very well teained in, one way or another," she declared, smirk still on her face. 

Celia let out a chocking sound close to a sob and then looked down to the ground. Genevieve let go of her hair and patted her shoulder, pout on her face. 

"I'm truly sorry that this is the only way but look at the bright side! After all of this you will finally be free!" the woman said, smiling enthusiastically before she got up to walk back to the witches. She stopped dead in her tracks in the middle of her way though. 

Celia's choking sounds… they had turned into laughter. Genevieve furrowed her brows in anger and confusion and held her hand up to signal Derek to hit her again. 

It all happened in the blink of an eye.

Celia grabbed the chains, that been holding her by her wrists with her hands, and pulled on them with the scream of a warrior escaping her throat. The chains broke from the poles they were attached to and Celia used the momentum to use her super speed to get behind her torturer.

She used one of the chains to choke him, holding him hostage as she locked eyes with Genevieve. 

"If you studied me so well you should've known that I can read minds. I knew immediately that all your talking is a simple distraction because your little team here is utter crap!" the girl declared as she used her speed and strength to loop the chain around Derek's neck before she pulled on it, causing the head of the vampire or werewolves to snap right off. 

Genevieve screamed out in shock, her hands grasping onto her head as she focused on the rolling head of the man. 

The witches all had their eyes closed, not distracted by the newest turn of events. Celia smirked at the sight. She knew the three of them had to focus all their energy on creating the binding spell and could not use their magic for anything else. They were defenseless. 

The female vampire ran forward and grabbed one of the poles where previously parts of her chains had been attached on, using it as a speer. She threw it forward with all her power, hitting the witch on the right corner right in the chest. She died immediately and the other two witches screamed out as they lost their connection to their sister. 

"CONTINUE!" Genevieve ordered them before she came forward to attack Celia, who grabbed her by her throat mid-run. 

"I'm way stronger than you, you bitch," Celia gritted through her teeth as she glared at the woman. Then she ran froward and grabbed the second pole, placing it through Genevieve's stomach. 

The woman screamed out in pain and fell to the ground, the pole literally sticking out on both ends of her. 

She screamed at her fellow guards to assemble, something Celia didn't notice as she had attacked the witch in the middle of the altar, drinking from her to regain even more strength. 

Once she was done she looked up, her hair flipping along her movements and revealing her bloodied mouth. 

She raised an eyebrow at the ensemble of vampires around the now-pole-less Genevieve, all of them watching her and waiting for the order to kill her. Without even turning her head she stretched her hand out to her side, grabbing the heart of the final witch in the process. As the body next to her fell to the ground she smirked, locking her eyes with Genevieve's. She let her hand go slack, the heart falling to the ground. 

"I am not sure who you studied but not me. I am Cecelia Salvatore," the girl began to declare as she snapped one chain off her wrist, 

"I have been sold off," she continued, stepping over the body of the witch she had drunk on, 

"Raped," she snapped the other chain of her wrist and placed it in her hand as a weapon, 

"And killed." she finished, standing infront of the mob of vampires, her eyes focused on the shocked and bleeding Genevieve. 

"From everything that has happened to me I've only gotten stronger. Elijah didn't enslave me, he freed me from my weak human form that everyone just pushed around. The one you thought you could just push around," she declared with a scoff. 

Then she picked up the chain again and whirled it around, raising an eyebrow at the several vampires in front of them. 

"The Klaus Michaelson once said he'd never want to piss me off. Wanna see why?" she asked sweetly as she cocked her head to the side,chain dangerously dangling in her hand. 

Genevieve yelled out an order in french and the vampires on her side surged forward,ready to attack Cecelia.. 

The girl just smirked, like a true Salvatore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since it's national women's days here is some badass celia


	11. Family

The smell of blood filled the room as Celia killed attacker after attacker, not stopping even if they got the best of her too. She didn’t know for how long she had been fighting, didn’t know what screams were hers and those of everyone else. She only knew that suddenly the room was silent and in her hand there was a heart of which she didn't know who it belonged to. 

Celia began to breath heavily from exhaustion as she looked around the room, letting her hand go slack to let the heart fall to the ground. 

Everyone was dead. They were down by her feet, spread out in a circle on the ground. She stood in the center.

Cecelia exhaled heavily and threw her head back, closing her eyes. The veins under them were pulsating, all of the blood around her bringing out her vampire site. Without opening her eyes she bought her arm up to her head and used her tongue to lick blood off it in a stripe.

Suddenly she heard a gasp, making her stop in her tracks. Before the person could continue Celia had already thrown herself at them, the color of her eyes dark and the veins under it clearly visible. 

Out of instinct she hissed at the person, her arm already through their chest and holding onto their heart.

‘’W-what the fuck’’ the person groaned out, making Celia look at them. Really look at them.

It was Damon. She was holding onto the heart of her brother. 

‘’Oh god,’’ she breathed out, letting go of him and using her speed to get a few feet away. It opened up a bigger picture for her. 

Damon, Elijah, Stephan and Klaus all stood in front of her. They had come for her. 

Stephan and Damon were looking at her in shock, Elijah was clenching his jaw upon her sight and Klaus was smirking. Celia looked into their heads and could see her reflection. She looked wild, covered in blood. Even her face had splatters of it on it. Her hair was in no better shape, standing up from her head.

Celia saw in Elijah’s head how her hands were shaking and she looked from him to them, eyes big as she realised she was indeed trembling.

‘’You seriously didn’t have to attack me like that, Cece,’’ Damon groaned, his hand smoothing over his bloody chest. Celia’s head snapped back to look at him and she exhaled heavily, her shoulders going slack. She could allow herself to relax a little. With them she would be safe. 

‘’Sorry,’’ she breathed out. While she tried to take a step forward to get to Damon she felt herself falling. 

Before Celia could even comprehend it she was caught by the strong arms of Elijah and she smiled, although it didn’t reach her by now half lidded eyes.

‘’I got you,’’ Elijah whispered as one of his arms came up around her thin frame and the other around her head, his hand in her hair. 

‘’I know you do,’’ she mumbled as she tried her best to keep her eyes opened, her head resting against his chest. 

‘’How much of that blood is yours?’’ the Original asked, concern clear in his voice. Celia moved to stand up on her own, pushing Elijah away and groaning in the process.

‘’I honestly don’t know. Let’s just get out of here,’’ she declared as she took a wobbly step forwards, the other three men coming into her view again. Elijah let go of her but his gaze didn’t leave her for a second.

She locked her eyes with Klaus who seemed overjoyed as he looked around the room. The Hybrid whistled before he smiled at her,

‘’You did quite a number here, love,’’ he spoke, clearly impressed. 

Celia scoffed as she took another shaking step forward, still trying to smile. 

"When I'm in better shape I'm definitely kink-shaming you for your thoughts," she joked, knowing Klaus was turned on by her wild site. The image of her standing between bodies and licking blood off of herself was engraved in his mind. She could clearly see it in his head just how much he liked it. The very sight that haunted Elijah's mind. 

"Nicklaus," the Original said warningly and the smirking Hybrid just shrugged as he moved forward to inspect the bodies. 

Celia took another step, ignoring the previous interaction. It turned out to be a bad choice tough as she suddenly got dizzy and began to sway. 

‘’Can you at least try to not be completely useless for once?’’ Damon snapped at Elijah, who failed to catch her beforehand, and used his speed to move forward. He grabbed Celia with the intention of helping her but she furrowed her brows and groaned, her head rolling around a bit whilst she tried to push Damon away.

‘’Don’t touch me,’’ she mumbled, trying to shake her brother off her.

Damon just scoffed before he swept her of her feet, suddenly carrying her bridal style.

‘’Stop being difficult. You don’t need to prove that you can handle yourself, we already know,’’ he just declared as he turned around to carry her out of the room. Celia knew that something had happened, she could see it in her brother’s head. He was upset at Elijah about something but she was too weak to find out more. Instead she just groaned as she let her brother carry her.

‘’We’ll take care of this mess. You get her home.’’ Stephan, who suddenly stood next to Damon and had his hand on her cheek, said. 

Celia smiled at the contact. Even without humanity Stephan cared this much. All four of the men in the room did. Celia laughed and although it was barely audible everyone in the room heard it, causing them to pause and focus on her.

‘’I love all of you idiots so much, have I ever told you that?’’ she mumbled, slight smile on her face. As a sort of awkward silence filled the room Celia lost the battle with her eyes, finally closing them.

For a second she felt peaceful even if she was in the middle of passing out. She was in her brother’s arm, surrounded by people who loved her. She'd be alright. 

Then, suddenly, a sharp pain hit her shoulder, making her entire body jerk. She screamed out in pain, startling Damon who let go of her.

As her back hit the ground she felt another stabbing pain, this time in her stomach and she cried out as her hand went to cover the place where suddenly blood streamed out.

‘’WHAT IS GOING ON?’’ Elijah shouted as he frantically looked at his girlfriend. 

Stephan crouched down and picked Celia up by her shoulders to move her up. Her back was resting against his chest, the back of her head leaning on his shoulder and he looked over her body. Some of her hair stuck to her forehead from sweat and tears were streaming down her face.

‘’Now that I have your attention!’’ a voice suddenly declared, making everyone snap to the direction where it came from. 

Genevieve appeared, stepping over the bodies of her companions. She had a stake in her hands that was pointed towards herself and a stab wound on her shoulder. In her other outstretched and bloody hand she held Celia's necklace, the jewelry covering a cut. 

Celia groaned and she shifted slightly against Stephan's chest to find a position that hurt less, 

"I thought I'd killed you already," she muttered between her teeth, her eyes closed in pain.

Genevieve scoffed loudly as she looked to the girl on the ground,

‘’Yeah, you wish. When you started going on your little murder spree I used the momentum to rip this little thing off your pretty little neck,’’ the vampire declared, holding the hand up that was holding Celia’s necklace.

‘’And what exactly is it that you want to achieve with all of this?’’ Klaus interfered, grabbing the attention of Genevieve.

Celia knew that the same, boring speech from earlier would follow so she took matters into her own hands,

‘’She was Elijah’s and my servant in 1901 and the one that put me in that damned box.She had my blood in her system before you killed her, Nick, and now she’s being a little bitch about it,’’ Celia quickly explained as she did her best to open her eyes and glare at the woman. 

Genevieve’s nostrils flared up at the insult,

‘’Oh, this is gonna hurt,’’ she said with a big smirk before she slammed the stake into her ribcage.

Celia screamed out in pain again, holding onto her side whilst it was bleeding. 

It didn’t take long for anyone to notice what was going on. Genevieve was connected to Celia. 

Elijah fletched his teeth before he surged forward, grabbing the female vampire by the throat once he reached her. Genevieve began choking upon his strong grip...and so did Celia.

Elijah only had his focus on the woman before him, holding onto her throat even tighter while he glared at her. Even though she was choking she managed to smile as if she had the upper hand. It made Elijah furious. How dare she play with the life of Celia. How dare she take her away from him once more. 

‘’Brother they’re connected!’’ Klaus, who frantically looked between the choking Celia and the back of his brother, called out. 

Celia continued to gasp for air while she was in Stephan’s arm, her hands around her throat as if Elijah’s hands were on her.

‘’You’re killing her!’’ Damon shouted before he ran forward and pushed Elijah away from Genevieve, both vampires landing on the ground.

The female vampire quickly recollected herself and smiled down on Elijah,

‘’This is all I’ve ever wanted. For you to be my little bitch,’’ she declared with a smirk before she held the stake up again, this time right over her heart.

‘’As long as my blood is on this necklace I’m connected to your little slut over there,’’ she explained as she looked between Klaus, Damon and Elijah. All three men were glaring at her, dangerously exposing their fangs but not one of them moved. It was too risky. 

‘’What do you want from us?’’ Klaus gritted between his teeth, his eyes close to changing their color. 

Whilst Genevieve fell into a monologue of how she ‘wanted to see them suffer’ the barely conscious Celia shifted in Stephan’s arms, sitting up straighter. Her brother had just had the idea that could save her life.

‘’Do what you’re thinking, Stefano,’’ she whispered, hoping for Genevieve to be too involved in her monologue to overhear.

‘’But-’’ Stephan began but stopped when he saw Celia strongly shaking her head,

‘’Just do it, please’’ she begged as she help her shaking hands up in the air.

Stephan took in a deep breath before he moved a strand of his sister hair behind her ear. 

‘’It’ll be alright,’’ he whispered against it before he kissed her temple. Then his arms came around her frame, both of his hands holding onto each of her wrists.

Celia shut her eyes tightly, preparing for the pain that was about to come.

She heard Stephan counting down in his head and on three he did it. He had snapped Celia’s wrists, breaking them. 

As Celia screamed out in pain so did Genevieve, the female letting go of both the stake and the necklace. 

The last thing Celia heard before everything turned dark was Elijah screaming out in horror.

_______________________

Damon definitely preferred it when he and Stephan were enemies with the Original brothers because whatever they had now...it was awkward.

He was currently driving a stolen car with his two siblings and the two men in the world that he probably hated the most in it. Back when they all hated each other this ride would’ve been full of banter and snarky comments but instead it was dead silence, everyone waiting for the same thing.

The sound of a heartbeat. 

With Stephan’s idea to break Celia’s wrists (and hence also Genevieve’s) it didn’t take long for the Originals to come for the woman. Damon was the first one to reach her and had immediately resorted to pushing his hand inside her chest. 

Elijah had watched in horror how he had pulled her heart out of her, forgetting that even though she wasn’t holding onto the necklace anymore her life was still bound to Celia's as long as her blood touched it. 

Celia had died immediately, leaving everyone to hold their breath. 

Klaus, always the man of action, had recovered the fastest tough, taking the necklace from the ground and biting into his hand. Once his blood touched it the same wounds that Celia had appeared on his body, making everyone sigh in relief as he was now connected to her. 

Now, it was a matter of waiting. 

‘’Can anyone tell me why this is so awkward? Didn’t we use to have cheerful banter, all of us brothers?’’ Klaus asked sarcastically, seemingly just as uncomfortable as Damon. 

‘’I don’t know, Klaus. Maybe ask the dead body of my sister sitting next to you,’’ Stephan remarked sassily, turning around to glare at the Hybrid. 

He and Stephan were in the front seats, whilst the two Original sat behind, Cecelia between them whilst her head rested on top Elijah’s shoulder.

‘’Well, maybe If you-’’ Klaus began but he was interrupted by the sound all of them had been waiting for. Celia's heartbeat.

It took merely a few seconds before she gasped for air, her entire body jerking.

She frantically looked around the car, looking into each face before she sighed in relief.

‘’Thank god,’’ she said, going slack as she fell back into the seat.

‘’Glad you’re back, little one. Now, what did I teach you about going away with strangers back then?’’ Damon asked in a mocking tone, causing Celia to laugh. It was rather pathetic though, coughs coming up inbetween. She sounded sick.

‘’Don’t worry about that, Love. I’m sure we’ll find someone your brother can run over and you’ll be back on track,’’ Klaus said, his hand coming up to get some hair out of her face.

‘’I need blood now,’’ Celia pleaded weakly before coughing up even more, her body beginning to shake. 

Just as Damon wanted to declare that they’d reach their home in the next 20 minutes, Elijah had already bit into his wrist and held it up in front Celia’s face.

‘’Here,’’ he spoke softly as he turned his body towards her, his other arm coming up around her shoulders. He gently pushed her forward so her lips lingered above his wound. 

‘’Please don-’’ Damon pleaded but it was already too late. Celia had sunk her teeth into Elijah’s arm, sighing contentedly as she fed on his blood.

Everyone was clearly uncomfortable since blood sharing was such a intimate thing in their community and Stephan turned back around to Klaus, raising his eyebrows at him.

‘’Wanna ask again why this is awkward?’’ he asked, frowning as he looked between Klaus and his sister.

After a minute or so Celia was done with feeding and she rested her back against the seat again, letting Elijah take care of the blood around her mouth with a tissue. 

"I can't believe I lost a hundred years with all of you because of one vengeful woman," Celia spoke, breaking the silence in the car. 

"You're awfully sentimental today, Love" Klaus said, deflecting her emotional state as he was clearly touched by her words. Everyone was. 

Celia laughed a little, small smile around her lips. 

"I'm not half as sappy as all of you are," Celia declared before tipping against her forehead with her finger, indicating that she had been reading their thoughts. 

Klaus clicked his tongue upon her statement whilst Elijah just smiled, using his arm around her shoulders to move her closer to himself. 

"Do you have no sense of privacy at all?" Klaus demanded to know, annoyed since he was always the one getting exposed by Celia's mind reading abilities. 

Celia laughed and fondly looked at her brothers in the front seats, 

"We Salvatores are way too noisy for that, aren't we?" she asked, smiling. 

Damon and Stephan both returned her smile, locking eyes with her in the mirror. 

"All of you certainly know how to get under one's skin," Elijah declared, tone somber as he squeezed Celia's shoulder. His gaze wasn't on her though, it was directed straight ahead at Damon. 

Celia furrowed her brows while she looked between the two. Then her eyes shifted to Klaus and Stephan and she cocked her head to side, 

"Did something happen?" she mouthed with big eyes. 

Klaus smiled devilishly and Stephan just sighed at the memory of what happened. 

"Let's just say Elijah and Damon had different approaches on how to save you," Stephan spoke, looking at his brother with a frown. 

Damon scoffed and Elijah clicked his tongue, making Celia's gaze snap back to him. 

For a moment she didn't say anything but then she gasped before slapping Elijah's arm, 

"Oh my god,you killed my brother?" she asked, mouth open as she looked at Elijah in shock. 

At least he had the decency to look slightly ashamed, making Damon scoff as he had watched at the Original through the mirror. Celia moved forward to also slap the back of Damon's head, the vampire yelping at the pain. 

As Damon rubbed his head he turned around to stare at his sister , Stephan quickly taking the control of the wheel. 

"What was that for?" Damon asked in a high pitched voice. 

Celia glared at him with a passion, 

"You tried to kill him first!" she called out, her strong brows furrowed in anger. 

"Can we have this conversation literally anywhere else?" Stephan, who had difficulty controlling the car on his own, yelled back at them. Klaus laughed at him. 

"I'm sorry for hurting your brother, dearest. He was simply getting too worked up-" Elijah began, eyes on his girlfriend whilst he ignored her brother. 

"Sorry that not everyone of us can be a calculating robot, you fucking dick," Damon interrupted him angrily. 

Celia slapped Damon again. 

"Don't call him a dick, you moron!" she exclaimed. 

"What are you defending him for? He killed me, your favorite!" Damon demanded to know, comedically raising his voice at the end while he pointed at himself with big eyes. 

"Oh, will you ever get over that inferiority complex and where you make everyone choose you?" Celia huffed as she leaned back, her arms crossed in front of her chest. 

"Cecelia I don't think you mean that. You're just getting worked u-" Elijah began, 

"Do not tell me what to do I'm super mad at the both of you!" Celia declared, interrupting the Original. 

"Why are all of you men always so stupid? I love all of you! Why won't any of you accept that? Why does everyone of you have to be the alpha male? Don't you know that family means exactly that? Unconditional and unlimited love?" Celia ranted, her eyes shifting between every male in the car. 

Silence stretched out afterwards, the only noise the sound of the engine going off as Stephan had somehow managed to park them by the side of the road. 

As Celia glared between her brother and her boyfriend the tension grew, everyone having something to say on their tongue but no one daring to do so. 

Elijah was the first one to break it. 

"Family is the most important thing," he recited, looking from Celia to Klaus. 

"I guess I've always had trouble accepting that your family isn't just me," he stated as his gaze shifted back to her. 

Celia's expression softened, knowing Elijah referred to more than just the appearance of her brothers in her life. 

Damon clicked his tongue as he teared his glare away from Elijah. He turned around, finally facing the front shield of the car again before he spoke up, 

"And I guess it's not just me and Stephan who lost you once and don't want to repeat that," he stated before sighing. 

Celia sucked in a harsh breath at the revelation, her expression softening even more. She moved forward and placed her arms around the seat so that they'd come around Damon's neck in a attempt of a hug. 

"You're not going to lose me again," she spoke softly, eyes focused on Stephan as he came into her view. 

"None of you," she declared as she looked deep into her brother's eyes. A brief silence followed until Klaus spoke up, his gaze focused on Cecelia,

"Well, I guess that means always and forever then, doesn't it?" he spoke, his gaze shifting to his brother. 

Celia closed her eyes and smiled before she nodded. 

"Family. Always and forever." she repeated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some wholesome fluff for y all
> 
> The next chapter will be the final one. Any wishes for it? I'm thinking abt a wedding..


	12. a love like that

**A few months later**

‘’I’m nervous. Why am I nervous?’’

Celia turned around to look at herself in the mirror for about the hundredth time that day, her eyes gliding over her form.

Caroline rolled her eyes before placing another flower into Celia’s hair.

‘’It’s your wedding day, silly. Of course you’re nervous!’’

Celia exhaled heavily before nodding. Caroline was right, it was natural for her to be this nervous. Or was it?

"I don't remember feeling like this the first time," she confessed, hopelessly looking between her bridesmaids that consisted of Caroline, Elena and of course Rebekah as her maid of honor.

"You were sad and not nervous and now stop moving or I'll accidentally stab you," Rebekah, who was in the middle of placing a rather sharp accessory in Celia's hair, declared.

Celia turned to look from her to the mirror as to not obstruct them any further, her eyes gliding over herself once again. Her [dress](https://www.pinterest.de/pin/255579347596344375/) was gorgeous in her opinion. White and with flowery details that stretched down to the defined waist before tull stretched out around her hips.Her hair matched the accessory on it, half of her curled brown locks in a bun that had flowers around it while the rest of her hair covered her shoulders.

"Why were you sad the first time?" Elena asked before crouching down to check if Celia's shoes sat right.

Celia locked eyes with Rebekah through the mirror, both reminiscing a time long gone.

"I guess I never really told any of you about it, did I?" Celia asked before laughing nervously.

"You certainly didn't tell us," a voice suddenly declared, making everyone's head snap to the direction where it came from. In the door frame stood Stephan, who had just spoken, and Damon.

"Lookin' good, sis," Damon declared with a smile as he nodded towards Celia who chuckled. The bridesmaids all rolled their eyes at him,

"She doesn't just 'look good', Damon, she looks drop dead gorgeous," Caroline corrected him, making Celia smile and Damon roll his eyes.

"How long 'til the ceremony starts?" Rebekah asked the two brother's as they made their way through the fitting room of Klaus mansion.

"Enough to hear the story of how Cece tied down an Original the first time. Yet sis, please, I beg you, leave out the wedding night, will you?" Damon pleaded while clasping his hands together.

Celia rolled her eyes at him before looking into the mirror, trying to remember what she looked like almost a century ago.

"It wasn't really planned, you see…" she began,

**1907**

_Celia couldn’t help but smile so much her cheeks hurt. Today she’d finally see Elijah again after almost a month of separation. He had insisted on her staying in Europe with Rebekah whilst he and Klaus had taken on some business overseas, simply because he could tell Celia loved the place here way too much. She and Rebekah had been enjoying the summer in Scotland, living by the countryside in a cottage just big enough for the four of them. Nature surrounded them, something the big cities in America wouldn’t allow them to enjoy._

_‘’It’s just my stupid brothers, stop looking live you’ve won something,’’ Rebekah stated as she frowned at the grinning Celia._

_The two vampires were inside a carriage on their way to meet Elijah and Klaus. Instead of coming straight home they had insisted on meeting them halfway in a small town located just a few hours away from their cottage. Rebekah and Celia supposed it was because they had some sort of business there that needed to be taken care of._

_‘’I can’t stop smiling, I’m sorry,’’ Celia declared happily as she looked from the window she had been staring out of to Rebekah._

_The girl scoffed slightly but she couldn’t hide her smile either,_

_‘’How you manage to show my crippled family this much love continues to amaze me,’’ she stated as she looked at Celia, fully smiling now._

_‘’The charm of the Michealsons has simply enchanted me, I suppose,’’ she said, laughing afterwards. Rebekah joined her in her laughter as she rolled her eyes._

_‘’i think it was the other way around, though. You and your little locks-’’ Rebekah began, making Celia laugh even more as she flicked a strand of her hair to make it bounce,_

_‘’-have totally managed to wrap Elijah around your finger. It was only a matter of time before Nick and I also fell for the little italian girl my brother brought along,’’ Rebekah continued, a soft expression on her face. Celia laughed out loud as she pinched Rebekah’s side._

_‘’I don’t have him wrapped around my finger!’’ she declared as she pinched her friend who yelped out before pinching Celia back._

_‘’Of course you do!’’ Rebekah said while laughing. She catched Celia’s arm as the girl tried to pinch her again, holding it in place while Celia laughingly tried to escape her grip._

_‘’And even if he isn’t totally whipped for you already, which he is, after he’ll see how you dolled up for him today he’ll definitely be,’’ Rebekah declared as she locked down on Celia._

_‘’I surely hope he’ll be,’’ Celia declared, her grin widening._

* * *

_‘’This is foolish, brother,’’_

_Elijah sighed heavily upon Klaus statement. It had been the fifth time he had said it today._

_‘’I do not wish to discuss this any further, Nicklaus,’’ the Original stated as he turned away from his brother to look at the road ahead._

_‘’I have nothing against the idea of another investment but you’re about to give a promise that you can’t keep. I thought you were so awfully concerned about keeping your word?’’ Klaus continued, ignoring his brothers clear distaste for the topic._

_The two men dressed in suits were walking over a field, a gorgeous[mansion](https://www.pinterest.de/pin/255579347596347996/) just a few feet away from them. For miles you could see nothing but the grande white house, build in the middle of the fields. It was abandoned, the grass and flowers around it wild. Still, it didn’t take away from it’s beauty but merely added to it. Nearby there even was a small lake, a smaller house build by it, completing the scenery._

_‘’I will keep my word, you want to know why?’’ Elijah spoke as he finally turned to look back at his brother, the two of them facing the property. A pleasant breeze hit them, only Klaus long hair affected by it as Elijah’s shorter hair had been parted in the middle._

_Klaus raised his eyebrows at him and Elijah smiled contently as he to look at everything around him,_

_‘’Because she’ll love it.’’ he stated, smile never leaving his face._

_Just as Klaus opened his mouth to interfere the sound of stomping hooves interrupted him, making both vampires turn around as a carriage came into their view. Elijah breathed out, a even wider smile taking over his face._

_Ignoring his brother he ran forward, careful to use human speed as the driver of the carriage was clearly not a vampire but a servant. Klaus followed him and both came to an halt about a few feet away as the carriage finally stopped. The servant jumped off from the vehicle to move around it and open the door, allowing the passengers inside to escape. First one was Rebekah, holding up her dress and getting out on her own, ignoring the waiting hand of the servant._

_‘’Welcome back, brothers,’’ she declared rather unemotional as she moved forward to meet them._

_Klaus scoffed while he watched Rebekah stand next to Elijah,_

_‘’So much for having missed us then, huh, ‘Bekah?’’ he asked as he moved to stand next to her. The Original rolled her eyes, before pointing towards the carriage,_

_‘’Everything in those letters was the work of the little Salvatore who, by the way, is waiting to make her dramatic entrance,’’ Rebekah said, smiling as she looked at the carriage._

_Elijah and Klaus followed her gaze and both held their breath as they saw her._

_Celia was currently getting out of the carriage, one hand holding that of the servant and the other holding onto her dress. She smiled at the servant once she reached the ground, letting go of his hand before turning to look at the three Originals, two of which seemed absolutely stunned._

_The Salvatore couldn’t help but smirk. Even she herself, as modest as tried to be, thought that she looked exceptionally pretty today. It was all thanks to her[dress,](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/93/f0/2c/93f02c5585f0d23efad0102df388fa43.jpg) honestly. It was of a soft rose, the skirt of it layered with white lace details. The waist was well-defined and her shoulders and collar were exposed. On top of her necklace she wore white pearls which once had been a present by Elijah. Her hair was curled and two strands were braided and tied together by the back of her head, pearl accessory holding it together. _

_While keeping her eyes on both brothers she did a curtsey, holding onto her skirt with both hands,_

_‘’I, for a fact, have truly missed you two,’’ she said, breaking out in laughter afterwards._

_As soon as the servant had turned his back on them to concentrate on the horses Elijah used his vampire speed to move forward. He immediately placed his hands on Celia’s waist as he reached her and gazed into her eyes._

_‘’And you have no idea how much I missed you,’’ he declared before pulling her towards himself and kissing her. Celia giggled into the kiss, making Elijah smile too._

_‘’Is no one around here excited to see me?’’ Klaus called out as he raised his arms, looking between the kissing couple and his sister who rolled her eyes._

_Celia laughed against Elijah’s lips before breaking off the kiss. She wiped her thumb over his bottom lip, his eyes closed, before she pecked them one last time. Then she turned around and used her supernatural speed to run to Klaus and hug him, catching the Original by surprise as he almost fell over. He quickly recovered though and laughed as he returned her hug._

_‘’How dare I greet my love first and not the king of England?’’ Celia spoke while laughing. Klaus gasped and hugged her awfully tight, making Celia shriek and Klaus laugh._

_Just as Klaus wanted to tease her even more she was taken away from his arms, Elijah having used his speed to fetch her. He ran a few feet away with her, having caught her by the waist. Her back against his chest and twirled her around a few times once he came to a stop, her feet hovering above the ground, making both of them laugh wholeheartedly. Then he stopped for good, still holding her close to him. Celia let her arms rest over those of Elijah’s around her waist._

_‘’What do you think?’’ Elijah asked as their laughter died down, resting his chin on top of her shoulder._

_‘’I’m thinking that I’ve missed your arms around me a lot,’’ Celia spoke slyly, making Elijah chuckle. He kissed her exposed shoulder before pointing towards house with one arm._

_‘’I mean about the property,’’ he clarified before pulling her closer to himself,_

_‘’ Even though I do not want to diminish the lack of my arms around your body,’’ he whispered against her ear, making her smile._

_She then turned to look at the house, inspecting it while she let Elijah sway her in her arms and pepper her neck with kisses._

_‘’You already know that I think it’s absolutely beautiful, I’ve shown you enough houses for you to know my style. Whoever lives here can call themselves lucky,’’ she spoke before she breathed out as Elijah kissed a sensitive spot behind her ear._

_‘’Call yourself lucky then, Love,’’ Klaus, who suddenly appeared next to them alongside Rebekah, declared._

_Celia turned her head at Elijah with big, questioning eyes. The Original rolled his eyes at his brother before looking back to Celia,_

_‘’Guess the cat is out of the bag,’’ he said while glaring at Klaus._

_‘’Oh, so it is another investment. I thought we had enough property?’’ Rebekah asked, looking between Elijah and Klaus._

_‘’Oh, this one is different. Elijah has the illusion that we’ll stay here,’’ Klaus, voice dripping with irony, stated._

_Celia escaped from Elijah’s grip to face him, her brows furrowed,_

_‘’You mean ‘stay’ as is in...stay? Settle here?’’ she asked. The Original nodded, ignoring Klaus as he looked between Celia and Rebekah._

_‘’We’re a family. A family needs a home. A home they don’t leave after a few years or even just months,’’ he said determinedly._

_Celia and Rebekah exchanged a nervous glance before looking at Klaus who was clenching his jaw._

_‘’But...what about father, Elijah. He-’’ Rebekah began but she was interrupted by Elijah._

_‘’He won’t find us!’’ the Original declared._

_The siblings began to argue, each of them having their own strong opinion about the topic. Whilst they fought Celia turned to look around once more, stepping a few feet away from them without the Originals even noticing. She came to an halt at a point where she could oversee the entire property, watching as a rays of sunlight turned the surface of the water into sparkles._

_She closed her eyes and breathed in the fresh air, stretching her arms out slightly to feel the sun and the breeze against her skin._

_‘’-don’t need a home! We just need to be alive!’’ Celia heard Klaus declare._

_‘’He’s right,’’ she spoke, making the Originals turn to look at her with big eyes. She slowly turned around and locked eyes with Elijah across the field._

_‘’I don’t need a certain place or house as my home. I only need you, Elijah. You’re my home.’’ she declared with a smile, knowing her soulmate heard her even from their far distance._

_She smiled as she saw how Elijah’s mouth opened at the confession. As she watched how his eyes got glassy she felt overwhelmed with happiness, making her smile even more before she mouthed out,_

_‘I love you.’_

_For a moment Elijah just stood there, watching her smile at him from across the field. Rebekah clearly had tears in her eyes as she looked at both her brothers._

_‘’She’s right. I only need you to be at home’’ Rebekah said, making Klaus and Elijah look at her with soft expressions yet without saying anything in return._

_From across the field Celia laughed at the emotional clumsiness of the brothers. The three Originals turned to look back at her and the girl cupped her hands around her mouth before calling out,_

_‘’You’re supposed to say ‘always and forever’, you idiots!’’_

_As Klaus and Rebekah joined her in laughter, Elijah used his speed to get to her, his eyes widened as he cupped her face with shaking hands._

_‘’Let’s make it official then, shall we?’’ he said out of breath, making Celia furrow her brows._

_‘’What do you mea-?’’_

_‘’You and me. Always and forever.’’ Elijah declared with determination as he looked deep into her eyes._

_Celia widened her eyes as the realisation slowly hit her and she opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by Elijah,_

_‘’Will you be mine forever, Cecelia Salvatore?’’ he asked, his thumbs caressing her cheeks._

_‘’Is he asking her what I think he’s asking her?’’ a very irritated Klaus, who suddenly appeared near them, asked._

_‘’I think so,’’ Rebekah, who also just appeared, stated with big eyes as she looked at the couple. Celia wanted to turn her head to look at the two but Elijah who held her face in his hand didn’t let that happen, forcing her to look into his eyes. The girl gulped as her eyes widened even more,_

_‘’A-Are you suggesting what everyone thinks you’re suggesting?’’ she asked hopelessly._

_Elijah breathed out a laugh,_

_‘’Yes, I think so,’’ he said, seeming as surprised by his own actions as everyone else._

_‘’Will you marry me?’’ he finally said, making everyone else gasp._

_Celia was the first one to recover, shaking her head to clear her thoughts before she smiled greatly, tears coming up in her eyes,_

_‘’I think I will,’’ she said as she breathed out. Elijah exhaled as he smiled before placing his lips on top of hers. Celia held onto his wrists as she kissed him back, happy tears streaming down her face._

_After a short lived while Elijah broke the kiss off, breathing heavily as he rested his forehead against hers._

_‘’Let’s do it tonight, shall we?’’ he spoke as he closed his eyes, breathing in her perfume._

_‘’Tonight? That’s outrageous! No one can plan a wedding until then!’’ Rebekah stated, breaking the bubble of the couple._

_‘’Let’s do it. We have everything we need anyways,’’ Celia said as she smiled, ignoring Rebereka’s concerns._

_‘’But-’’ the Rebekah began but was interrupted by Klaus holding up his hand. A tension filled silence followed, everyone looking at the man that was known for his ill temper. What if he was against the idea? Elijah hadn't thought about it, had recklessly acted out of impulse. Especially since Klaus clearly felt something for Celia what if he would try to-_

_‘’I suppose that means we’ll have to go into town and fetch a priest and staff, don’t we?’’ he declared with a smile directed at the couple who both let out a breath they didn't know they had been holding. Celia smiled brightly as she nodded, looking between each Original._

_‘’I’ll truly be part of the family then, won’t I?’’ she asked, making all three Originals smile back at her. It was impossible to not return her smile, so every Michaelson thought._

* * *

_Was this really happening? Was she really about to marry Elijah. Celia wasn’t quite sure. It felt unreal..so right and yet so wrong at the same time..._

_Her soon to be husband had taken off with the rest of his siblings to organize the spontaneous wedding while Celia was to inspect the house she’d live in for the next few years until they had to move again. It was in need of some dusting and furnishing but otherwise it was absolutely stunning._

_‘’You look sick,’’ a voice suddenly declared, making Celia turn around in surprise. She had been so invested in her thoughts that she hadn’t even noticed Klaus entering the empty Salon she was currently in._

_‘’Just what every bride wants to hear on her wedding day. Thank you, Nicklaus,’’ she spoke sarcastically._

_Klaus moved forward and grabbed her hands. She hadn’t even noticed how she had fidgeted with them beforehand._

_‘’What is wrong?’’ Klaus asked in all seriousness,strong gaze on Celia._

_‘’This is not fair. I’m supposed to be the one that sees right through the other,’’ Celia whispered as she locked eyes with Klaus, letting her insecurity show on her face._

_Klaus smiled gently before he moved one hand up to cup her cheek,_

_‘’I’ll be taking over that for today. Sorry, Love,’’ he spoke gently, patiently waiting for her to open up as his thumb caressed her cheek._

_Celia looked down to the ground, beginning to play with Klaus fingers as to distract herself._

_‘’It’ just...a lot...emotionally…’’ she said, her eyes flickering between her hands and Klaus eyes._

_‘’I feel so much joy it’s almost hurts...like it wants to explode out of me…’’ she began, making Klaus laugh._

_‘’A young vampire like you is expected to be emotional,’’ he simply stated, squeezing her hands._

_Celia could see in his head that he thought it was just that. A young girl that was foolishly in love._

_‘’You don’t understand, Klaus,’’ she breathed out, eyes flickering up to him again. The Original frowned as he saw how truly troubled she was, her expression finally crumbling._

_‘’I’ve been married before. It didn’t end well,’’ she finally confessed, her hands beginning to shake._

_Klaus eyes widened as he realized what she meant._

_‘’You’re scared,’’ he declared with furrowed brows._

_Celia felt tears coming up and she tried desperately to suppress them as she nodded,_

_‘’I know it’s wrong. I know Elijah isn’t him but I-...I-...’’_

_As she began to choke up Klaus pulled her close, hugging her tight as she buried her face in his chest._

_‘’I can assure you that my brother will never hurt you. I know I’ve been a sort of a problematic factor in your relationship but let me tell you one thing-’’ he gently pushed Celia away by her shoulders so that she faced him, his hands coming up to wipe the tears around her cheeks away,_

_‘’A love like that between you and my brother isn’t something you find every day nor is it something that dies easily. Elijah is a man of honor and he will swear his love to you today and what is it that he would never do?’’ Klaus asked._

_Celia sniffed before she looked into the Originals eyes,_

_‘’Break his word.’’ she declared. Klaus smiled as he continued to wipe her tears away._

_For a minute she just looked into the eyes of the man in front of her. Celia knew whenever the two of them interacted like this they were close to crossing a line. She knew it would hurt Elijah if he knew about every unsaid emotion between them even if there was no need to, at least on her side. Celia had always known she had special feelings for Klaus but it was always clear to her that they’ve never been of romantic kind. Of course she couldn’t speak for Klaus himself._

_But one thing was sure. He was her family._

_‘’It’s just that I was this little girl that had dreams, you know? Dreams about her perfect, big white wedding. It would be to a man of my choice, a man that respected me,’’ she said sadly, silent tears still making their way over her cheeks as her hand came up to her necklace,_

_‘’He would’ve gotten along with my family even though Damon would’ve hated him simply for taking me away,’’ she continued, a small laugh escaping her mouth afterwards._

_‘’Instead you got a monster...’’ Klaus spoke, eyes trained on her while she looked down on her necklace._

_Celia nodded and clenched her jaw. For a while she just looked down to her necklace, turning the blue jewel with the engraved ‘S’ around in her fingers. Then, she smiled._

_‘’But then Elijah came,’’ she said softly before looking up._

_‘’And you and Rebekah,’’ Celia continued, smiling as she looked into Klaus eyes. The Original returned her smile._

_‘’I’ll go fetch my sister so she can do something about that face of yours. You may be stunningly beautiful but when you cry you look all shriveled up and red. Gastling, it truly is,’’ Klaus said deviously, making Celia gasp and punch him in the arm. The Original laughed before moving away from her so she couldn’t hit him again._

_‘’Cheer up, Love,’’ he declared, laughing as he turned his back on her to go and find Rebekah._

_In that minute Celia realised something, realised why she felt so awfully affectionate about Klaus._

_He was a hell of a lot like Damon. He’d tease, test her, make her laugh, annoy her but also love her endlessly._

_‘’Klaus!’’ she called out, making the Original turn around and cock his head to the side._

_Celia breathed out as she looked at the man in front of her._

_‘’Will you give me away?’’ she asked desperately. She would’ve wanted for her brothers to give her away. Klaus was the closest thing she now had to a that._

_The Original lost control over his face for a second. Celia started to regret her question, maybe it was selfish to ask him. He clearly had feelings for her, what if it hurt him to-_

_Suddenly Klaus stood before her, mere inches away. One of his hands came around her nape and he kissed her forehead before whispering,_

_‘’I’d be honoured to.’_

_30 minutes later Celia was walking down a path laid down with flowers, matching the bouquet in her hands. As the sun was setting the sky had turned pink and candles on top of water lilies were floating around the lake by which a wooden altar decorated with white fabric and flowers was placed. It was simple and absolutely beautiful. As a small group of musicians played Celia took step after step, clutching onto Klaus for dear life which made the Original suppress a smile. Cecelia didn’t look at him though. She only focused on the man by the altar who was looking at her with pure wonder and joy in his eyes and the girl immediately relaxed. As long as Elijah looked at her like that she’d be fine._

‘’Wow’’ Caroline breathed out. Elena nodded in agreement and even Stephan and Damon seemed affected by the story they just heard.

‘’I was sad because you two couldn’t be there but otherwise it was the best day of my life, no matter how cheesy that sounds,’’ Celia laughed.

Everyone but Rebekah had stopped working on her, too immersed in the story of her first wedding with Elijah. All four sat on the couch, looking between each other with wide eyes.  
Then Damon groaned loudly as he put his hands over his face,

‘’Why do you have to make it so hard to hate them?’’ he said.

Celia laughed, her eyes flickering to Rebekah,

‘’Guess that’s just the Michealson charme, isn’t it?’’ she asked, smiling. Rebekah returend her smile and laughed.

‘’But you don’t have to be nervous now,’’ Stephan suddenly said as he got up to walk to his sister. Celia raised her eyebrows at him and the vampire smiled before he took her hand into his own.

‘’Cause this time Damon and I are here to give you away,’’ he said with a smile on his face.

Celia broke out in a full on grin before she threw herself around her brothers neck, ignoring Rebekahs protests.

An hour later she was walking down the aisle Klaus had arranged on the property of his mansion, Damon to her left and Stephan to her right. All the friends she had made in this century like Caroline, Elena, Alaric and their significant others were assembled, smiling at her as she walked past them.

She only had eyes for the man in front of the Altar though.

Elijah, who had his hair split in the middle just like he had a hundred years ago, watched her walk up to him with as much wonder and joy in his eyes as he had back then. Celia smiled contentedly.

Klaus had been right. A century gone or not…

A love like theirs doesn’t die.

**BONUS**

As they reached the front Stephan affectionately flicked Celia's chin before he moved to stand next to Klaus on the grooms side. Damon kissed her cheek and before he left he whispered,

‘’I hope you know that even if we’re family with them now I’ll definitely won’t go game night or whatever,’’ into Celia's ear, making her chuckle.

After he moved next to Stephan, Celia finally locked eyes with Elijah, both of them smiling like idiots as they intervened their hands.

‘’No turning back now,’’ Celia warned him as she smiled. Elijah laughed before moving one of her hands up to kiss it,

‘’I’d marry you a thousand times.’’

Next to him Klaus groaned,

‘’Please don’t,’’ he pleased, making Celia laugh and Elijah roll his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> damn can't believe it's done..
> 
> i hope u liked it!!!!


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